Persona 4: Reaching For the Truth
by Dusk Emperor
Summary: Persona 4 Golden. The card telling Yu Narukami his future has been flipped. The Velvet Room calls to him, the power of Persona awakens inside him. A rural town called Inaba, a phenomenon called the Midnight Channel, and strange murders happening all over the "quiet" town. Fate is calling for Yu, will he answer it?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The Fool's Arrival.**

"Welcome to the Velvet Room."

I found myself in a limo of some sorts, all decked out in blue. So much blue that you would think the owner has some kind of strange fascination with it. It even had a built in mini bar, and a strange blue glowing light at the roof.

Judging from the way the outside looked from the windows, the limo was driving forward, endlessly through what looked liked a void of fog.

Moving forward through the madness of the world. Now that's new.

For some reason, I was sitting on one of the seats. On the other side of me sat a man I never met before at a table, with a young blonde in blue to the right of him. But what struck me was odd, was what the man looked like. He didn't exactly look human, he had a long nose, a wide grin, and his eyes were bloodshot. His balding head of white hair revealed pointy ears as well.

"Ah… It seems we have a guest with an intriguing destiny… *chuckle*" His voice was really creepy as well, but it was inviting, definitely awesome.

The man waved his hand in a greeting gesture. "My name is Igor…" He told me. "I am delighted to make your acquaintance." That name fits his appearance perfectly. "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter… It is a room that only those who are bound by a "contract" may enter… it may be that such a fate awaits you in the near future."

Damn, even this music that's playing is fit for this situation. Where is it even playing from? The limo's speakers?

"Now than… why don't you introduce yourself…?"

"I'm Yu Narukami." I noticed that we were speaking in English, so I was a little more comfortable speaking with him.

"Hm… I see." Now that was a creepy grin. "Now, let's take a look into your future, shall we?"

Igor placed his hand unto the table before him. With a flash of blue, a deck of cards appeared out of nowhere on the table.

Not gonna even try to question that.

"Do you believe in fortune telling?" Igor flicked his wrist and the cards flew in all directions, leaving 7 cards on the table in a circular formation, facing down. "Each reading is done with the same cards, yet the result is always different… *chuckle* life itself follows the same principles, doesn't it?"

"The future...?." I raised an eyebrow at Igor. "Believing in fortunetelling is another matter. If you do, than you're stuck in believing that your fate is already decided. I believe that you are always able to change your fate."

Igor chuckled, a large grin on his face. "Fascinating, you are a interesting guest indeed. But, it allows you to know the basic path that your life will take, does it not? So let me show you your reading, it won't hurt, right?" Igor flipped one of the cards over, showing a tower getting struck by lighting and breaking apart.

"Hm… The Tower in the upright position represents the immediate future. It seems a terrible catastrophe is imminent."

I rolled my eyes. My whole life is one. Starting with my parents. One big catastrophe.

Igor noticed my eye rolling but decided to ignore it and continue. "The card indicating the future beyond that is…" He flipped a second card, showing a night sky with a moon in the middle. " The Moon, in the upright position. This card represents "hesitation" and "mystery"… Very interesting indeed. It seems that you will encounter a misfortune at your destination, and a great mystery will be imposed upon you. In the coming days, you will enter a contract of some sort, after which you will return here."

I leaned back in the seat. "And how would I do that?"

"Ah, I see that you, my young guest, likes to be in control. Do not worry, all will be explained." Igor raised one finger in the air. "But remember, the coming year is a turning point in your destiny… If the mystery goes unsolved, your future may be forever lost. My duty is to provide assistance to our guests to ensure that does not happen."

I started to shift in my seat. This is… unnerving. My future will be lost? I know I said that I don't believe in fortunetelling, but this is making me very uncomfortable.

With a sweep of his hands, the cards vanished from the table. Suddenly, with a hint of realization in his eyes and voice, he spoke up again. "Ah! I have neglected to introduce my assistant to you." Igor turned to the woman next to him. "This is Margaret. She is a resident of this place, like myself."

I turned my head and looked at her. She was in clothes that exactly matched the same color as the limo. Guessing from the way that she didn't say anything yet, she's probably a shy type, wanting to keep to herself. Though, she is easy on the eyes.

"My name is Margaret. I am here to accompany you through your journey."

Wow, this was the first time she said anything since all this started. I stared at her golden colored eyes and smiled. She gave me an odd look and cocked her head to the side. I was about to say something about Igor being a pimp and having the girl to himself, but Igor interrupted me.

"We shall attend to the details another time." Aw, come on Igor, don't leave me hanging! "Until then, farewell…" All of a sudden, everything went dark.

…

A blue butterfly appeared in my head. It's soundless words echoed through my mind.

 _The card telling you a future has been flipped._

 _The awakened power inside of you will be your guide._

 _The stronger ties you have, the more power you gain._

 _You are not along any more. You can change the world._

 _Reach out to the truth._

 _Well, let's get started…_

My eyes suddenly opened, snapping me out of my trance. People were all around me, waiting for the same train. Overhead a TV commercial starts, showcasing some kind of special drink, with a girl in a bikini drinking it.

" _I'm tired of diets, enough of going to the gym. Good thing there's something even I can handle *giggle*." "Slim down this summer with the refreshing taste of Qualorie Magic."_

That girl in the commercial is pretty cute, would totally date her if I had a chance. What? Don't judge me, you know you would too. I think I heard of her? She's some kind of pop idol. Risette? Or something? Her music isn't my taste though, but it's probably because of America's music is so much more… better?

" _And we're back, now for some juicy news, the Mayumi Yamano Scandal. I'm sure everyone…"_

"Pft, first he bags a singer, than he has an affair with a TV anouncer on the side? Do chicks really dig politicians?" A man beside me commented on the news that was playing.

"Isn't it just stuff like money and connections? When you get down to it, financial and political cloud is what matters." A girl, which I assume is the man's girlfriend replied back.

"Hey, what is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, what do you think?"

I let out a sigh. Well, that guy's relationship is a little shaky. Do people really only care about this stupid drama? I've only been back in Japan for one day, and already I'm annoyed by this.

Finally the station's lights flashed, as the train pulled in, opening it's doors to everyone. I grabbed my bag off of the ground and entered the train. I found a seat near the back, putting my bag overhead, and sat down on the seat.

I should probably introduce myself. My name is Yu Narukami. I'm seventeen and I'm from Japan. Though, I've been living in America for a long part of my life. You see, My parent's job makes them work overseas a lot of the time, mostly in America, so we moved there for sometime.

As the train moved on, I remembered the last day I was in my old school. I was up in front of my whole class, as the teacher was telling them that I was leaving, which I might add, happened very, very often. They were all sad and that they would "miss" me, but I knew that they were all faking it. I could always read people's emotions from their facial expressions or how they moved. And I might add, I barely knew those people, I was in that school, not even a full semester. Because of my parent's job, we move all of the time, never staying in one place for too long. So making friends at school was a joke. Totally not worth the trouble. But really, who needs friends anyways.

" _We will arrive at the Higashi-Inaba terminal in a few minutes. Passengers heading for Inaba city and Yasoinaba station, please go to the other side of the platform."_

Oh, that's me. Stopping at the terminal, I quickly board the second train. Man, how long was this train ride going to be? First the plane ride and now this?

So, you probably wondering where I'm going? My parents decided that they wanted me back in Japan. So my mother got her little brother, my uncle, to let me stay at his house for the year, as I attend my Junior year of high school, in this small rural town called Inaba.

Actually, I should probably text him, saying that I'm on my way. Taking out my Iphone, I quickly sent him a message. After that, I took out my pair of ear buds, and put them in. Time to listen to some music. I scrolled through my music library and pressed the song I wanted. "Damned if I do ya" flashed across the screen. Alright, time for a nap…

…

Suddenly I was awoken from my nap as static images of an old man with a long nose and a blonde woman in blue flashed through my mind. Who were they? I have a strange sense of familiarity with them. Where have I seen them before?

*beep*

" _Yasoinaba is coming up. Yasoinaba."_

Whatever, not important now. I just received a message. I pull my phone out of my pocket, looking at the message I received. **"Meet us outside Yasoinaba station at 4PM."** Oh, it's from uncle. Looking at the time, it was… 3:53, so I'll be right on time. I get up quickly, grabbing my bag from the overhead rack and walked toward the door as it slowly opened with a hiss.

The outside of the station was real unique. And by unique I mean it was completely empty. Not a soul in sight. It looked old, and it seems that not many people get off at this station. I could have sworn that I saw a tumble weed roll by. Only thing I could hear was the birds chirping. I knew this town was rural, but I didn't think it would be this empty.

"Hey! Over here!"

I turned toward the voice as I saw a man standing near the corner of the station, with a young girl at his side. The man had short black hair and was holding his jacket over his shoulder with a dress shirt and tie on. He looked like some kind of badass detective or something.

I walked down the stairs and stood next to the two. Having now a closer look, the girl looked around six years old? She had her brown hair pulled up into twin tails.

I shook the man's hand as he continued talking. "Well, you're more handsome in person than in your photo." I don't know if I should be creeped out by this or not. If I didn't know you were my uncle, I would have ran the other way. "Welcome to Inaba. I'm Ryotaro Dojima. I'll be looking after you. Let's see… I'm your mother's younger brother… and that about sums it up."

"It's been a long time uncle." I gave him a slight smile.

Dojima chuckled. "I'll say. You've grown. I still remember when you were in diapers…"

Ignoring that comment, I could still remember the fun times I had with him. They were short, but were totally worth it. "Remember when you used to let me ride on your shoulders? And when we played pranks on my mother?"

"You still remember that? Man, that takes me back. My sister always would yell at us, but it was worth it." Dojima laughed.

I bent down, looking at the young girl. "I was probably around her age at the time." The girl quickly hid behind uncle's legs.

"Ah, sorry! I forget to introduce her. This is my daughter. Come on, Nanako, introduce yourself to your cousin." Dojima pushed her toward me.

"….."

Wow, quite a conversation starter. It is only natural. She's never seen me before. I gave her a friendly smile, urging her to continue.

"…'lo." Nanako whispered. With that, she visibly blushed and went back to hiding behind uncle, burying her face in his leg. Well, she's cute, that's for sure.

Dojima chuckled playfully. "What're you so shy for?"

Nanako pouted and smacked Dojima on the butt.

"Ow, hahaha."

"….."

She sounds a lot like me when I was her age. Just being silent, listening to everyone. That's probably why I always had people wanting to talk to me, cause I always listened. That does get annoying though. Maybe that's why I can read emotions pretty well? Anyways, I got an idea. With a snap of my finger, I dug through my bag and produced a piece of paper. I crouched down to Nanako's height and folded the paper quickly, making an origami swan.

"Here, take it." I showed her the paper bird.

Nanako slowly inched toward me and took the swan. Blushing a little bit. "… thank you…"

Dojima noticed her smile and continued. "Well then… Let's get going. My car's over there."

Uncle and Nanako started to walk forward to the car. Which was an old gray colored SUV. I went to follow them, but I bumped into someone.

"…. Hey."

I turned around. It was a girl. She had black hair, and her clothing looked like she just went shopping in an American store called Hot Topic. Interesting choice for clothing, though I don't mind at all.

The girl picked a piece of paper off of the ground, which I assumed dropped from my bag when we bumped into each other.

"You dropped this."

"Ah, thank you." I walked over and took the paper from her hands.

"Whatever. All I did was pick it up." Yup, the clothes fit her personality perfectly.

Looking at the piece of paper, it was the note I wrote with uncle's address on it. Useless now, since he's driving me there.

"…."

Why does everyone just stare at me, not saying anything? Aaaand there she goes, she just walked away from me.

"What's wrong?" I hear uncle call to me from the car.

"It's nothing." I walked over to the car and we headed for the house.

...

We got to the Central shopping district of Inaba, but had to stop to get some gas for the car. Well, and Nanako had to go to the bathroom.

When we parked at the gas station, a gas attendant came running forward to greet us.

"Hi! Welcome to Moel!"

Dojima looked at the back of the car. "Can you go to the bathroom by yourself?"

"Uh-huh" Nanako nodded.

We all came clambering out of the car. Nanako walked on ahead looking for the bathroom.

"It's in the back, to your left. You know which way is left? The side you don't hold your chopsticks in." That reminds me, I haven't eaten with chopsticks in a while. Damn, I'm going to look stupid when we eat dinner.

Nanako frowned. "I know… Geez…" Note to self, she doesn't like to be treated like a little kid.

Dojima and the attendant started a conversation, but I ignored it. I just wanted to sit back and relax. That airplane ride out here and than the train ride was WAY too long.

"Are you in high school?" Oh, he wants to speak with me? I guess I'll make some small talk.

"Yeah, a junior this year."

"Does it surprise a city boy to see how little there is out here? There's so little to do. I'm sure you'll get bored fast. You're be either be hanging out with your friends or doing part-time jobs." Part-time jobs, maybe. Hanging with friends, no. "Speaking of which, we're actually looking for part-time help right now."

"I'll think about it."

The attendant walked toward me with his hand out. "Give it some thought, why don't you? We don't mind if you're a student."

I shook his hand, as he smiled at me. Is it just me, or did his smile look really creepy right now?

"Oh, I should probably get back to work." He walked away just as Nanako came out of the bathroom.

Guh! What the hell? My vision flashed white all of a sudden. I grip my head in slight pain. What was that?

"… Are you okay?" Nanako quietly asked in concern. "Did you get carsick?" It was definitely not that. "You don't look too good…"

It's probably from the jetlag from the trip from America. I do feel pretty dizzy at the moment…

"What's wrong? You okay?"

"I'm fine uncle. Just a little lightheaded."

Dojima nodded in understanding. "That's understandable. It must have been a long trip for you. Why not take a little walk, get some fresh air? Just let me know when you're ready to go."

"I'll do just that." I should probably get myself used to this place anyways.

"The shopping district is near the house, so you should get to know your surroundings."

As soon as I start walking down the road I notice that girl from earlier. How the hell did she get here so fast? I walk over to her and wave.

"Hm…? Have we met before?" Really? Already forgot about me? Does she know more silver haired teenagers?

"We met at the station, remember? You picked up my note for me?"

She just gave me a deadpan look. "The station…? Oh, that one time." She's acting like it was a long time ago! "Nothing. I just went there because… I don't have anywhere to go." So now the Hot Topic girl is homeless.

"….."

Well, now she just went silent. This is awkward... Okay than, I'll just walk away now.

Okay, now let's go explore this district. It was a nice little street, there was a bookstore, a tofu shop, a… metal works shop? Why would they need a shop like that? A suit of samurai armor was even outside the door. Actually, that place looks pretty badass! I try to open the door but it was closed at the moment. Damn, I gotta remind myself to check this place out later.

As I start to walk back to Dojima's car, I came across a older man mumbling to himself.

"This place was so prosperous back in the day, but we only see regulars nowadays. If only Junes hadn't come to town, but it's so convenient… what a dilemma…"

What's this "Junes" that he was talking about?

"Hey, ojii-san." I got to remember my Japanese honorifics, what a pain in the ass. "What's this Junes you're talking about?"

The old man turned to me. "Oh, are you new here young man? Junes is a department store that opened two years ago. It has everything you ever need, but because of this, people shop there than our own stores. It's quite sad…"

This town is going out of business from a simple shopping mall? I bowed to him. "Thank you for the information."

The old man smiled. "It was my pleasure. It's not always that we get new people moving in here."

That's enough walking around for the day. Uncle is still waiting.

"How're you feeling? Ready to get back in the car?"

"I'm ready." I lied. I'm still dizzy, but I should be fine.

"All right, let's hit the road then."

…

Finally, we reached the house. Uncle and Nanako walked in, leaving me outside to look at it. It was an old styled house, but it had a homie feel to it. Not like my old houses... Ooh, look at that. There's a sweet silver scooter leaning against the fence. I should definitely ask uncle if I could drive it sometime.

I sigh as I take all this in. I guess that this'll be my home for the year. It's strange to call this place my home, but I'll get used to it.

…

 **Hello and welcome to my Persona 4 Golden fanfic. My first one at that.**

 **This'll be very different than the original story. There will be changes, and some of my own story put in it as well. There will be characters from earlier games of Persona and maybe some SMT as well. Sadly, the beginning has to stay the same, to make the story make sense, so bear with me. It'll take a few chapters to get passed the beginning, but after that, awesomeness will start happening. I promise.**

 **So I hope you will all enjoy this story, cause I'll try my hardest to make this as awesome as possible. So please give me some criticism in the reviews. So, let the story begin…**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Fool's Dream**

As I step into the house, uncle tells me to put my stuff in my room and come back to the living room. Alright than. I look over the house's surroundings, and on the inside, it's a nice little house. There was a mini kitchen with a table, a living room with a Japanese table with a TV on a cabinet against the corner of the room.

"Oh, right. Your room is upstairs, on the left."

I nod and climb the stairs. My room was a decent size. My boxes of stuff was scattered all over the room though. It came furnished with a desk, couch, table, and a few shelves. I place my bag down next to my folded up futon and stretched. I'll put away all this stuff later. Uncle's waiting for me.

Stepping down the stairs, I notice that there's some sushi and drinks on the table.

"We having a party?" I call out to uncle.

"Haha, you could call it that. Come on, sit down."

I comply, seating myself across from Nanako. I popped the tab off of my soda, with a pop sound. Dojima did as well, but his can, was of beer, not soda. Nanako just had a glass of what looked like orange juice.

"Alright, let's have a toast." We all lifted our drinks in the air and took a large gulp of the liquids. Ah, refreshing taste of TaP soda!

Uncle turns to me. "So… your mom and dad are busy as always… They're working overseas, was it?."

"Yeah, mom felt bad leaving me in America for so long, so here I am now."

"I know it's only for a year but getting stuck living in a place like this because of your parents… It's rough being a kid."

"Actually, being here for a year, is a new record. Never lived in one place this long in a long time."

Dojima looked at me with shock. He shook his head and continued. "Well, it's been only me and Nanako here, so it'll be nice having someone like you around. So long as you're here, you're part of the family, so make yourself at home."

I gave him a smile. I haven't been welcomed like this since… I don't even remember. It's nice…

"Thank you uncle, I'll do just that."

"Good." Uncle turned back and looked at his food. "Well, anyways… Let's eat."

Uncle and Nanako grabbed their chopsticks, ready to dig in. I grab mine but… I haven't used these things in a while… Like 12 years maybe?

*beep, beep, beep*

"Ugh… Who's calling at this hour?" Uncle grumbles and took out his phone. He answered it. "… Dojima speaking. …." He stood up and walked a few steps away from the table. "Yeah? I see… So where is it? Uh-huh…" He let out a sigh. "All right, I'm on my way. Looks like I made the right choice to skip the booze…" Uncle ended the call and turned to me. "Sorry, but I gotta go take care of some business. Go ahead and eat without me."

Nanako got up to say something, but Uncle continued. "I don't know how late I'll be. Nanako, you help him out, okay?"

"… Okay." Nanako has a very visible look of disappointment and worry on her face.

Dojima moved over to the door and slid it open. You could hear the rain coming down.

"Nanako, it's raining out. What did you do with the laundry!?"

"I already brought it in!"

"All right. Well, I'm off."

With that he slid the door shut and drove off. Wow, I didn't even say anything during that whole exchange…

Hm? Nanako sat back down and flicked on the TV.

"— _for this week. Next, let's take a look at the hourly breakdown of tomorrow's weather. With storm clouds moving in from the west, expect rain throughout the day tomorrow in most areas."_

"…Let's eat." Nanako quietly said.

"Right…" It took some time, but I got the hang of using chopsticks again. Now if only I could fix this quiet awkwardness atmosphere…. I need to break the ice. Ah, I know. "What does your dad do?"

"He… investigates stuff. Like crime scenes."

"So he's kind of like Freddy from Scooby-doo?"

"No, My dad's a detective." That explains his badass aura around him, and the way he dresses.

"Well, Freddy and the gang investigates crime scenes too." I grumbled playfully.

Nanako stared at me blankly, than a faint giggle started to come out of her lips. Score! Made her laugh. Just as I go to say something else, the news came on.

" _And now for the local news._ _City council secretary Taro Namatame is under fire for an alleged relationship with a female reporter."_ This is what those people were talking about back in Tokyo. " _His wife, enka ballad sensation Misuzu Hiiragi, revealed to this situation that she will likely peruse damages. In response, Eye Television has decided to cancel all of the announcer Mayumi Yamano's televised appearances. Until allegations of an affair with Mr. Namatame are resolved, she'll remain off the air and out of the public eye."_ That's quite harsh. In America, they couldn't care less about this stuff. Happens all of the time there.

"...This is boring." Nanako complains. I agree. With a press of a button, she flicked the channel.

" _At Junes, every day is Customer Appreciation Day. Come see for yourself, and get in touch with our products_!" With that, a jingle starts to play. " _Every_ _day's_ _great_ _at_ _your_ _Junes_!"

"Every day's great at your Junes! " Nanako sang back happily. Oh god! I think I might have diabetes, that was way too cute!

"… Aren't you going to eat?" Ah! I must have been staring at her oddly.

Dinner than was quiet and I quickly finished. I got up as Nanako stayed sitting down as she watched a quiz show that was on TV.

"Hey, Nanako, I'll be up in my room. You alright being down here alone?"

Nanako turns to me and nods her head. "Yeah, I'm used to it. Dad is usually gone anyways."

I went up the stairs and entered my room. I'm so tired right now. Plus, school is tomorrow as well, oh goody… I can't wait. I would like to unpack, but damn… all that traveling took a lot out of me. And my futon looks so inviting… With a fump, I let my body crash unto the futon, and I instantly fell asleep.

…

* * *

…

What the… why am I looking down at blood red tiles? Where am I…? I get off from the ground and start walking forward. Very dense fog is all around me… I can't even see a few feet in front of me! There's just a small road of red tiles stretching far into the fog.

Is this some kind of dream? Wasn't I in my roo- AHHHH! I almost fell off the road! I gotta focus and look forward.

" **Do you seek the truth…?"**

Now a bunch of spooky voices are speaking to me. This place is just lovely. You know, I might just move here. "What truth?"

…

Of course it wouldn't answer back. Whatever, I'll just keep walking forward. And walk I do.

" **If it's truth you desire, come and find me…"**

"How about you just come to me." I'm really getting tired of this. "What is all this truth you're talking about?"

Again, no answer. What was I expecting? You know, when I see who's been saying all this, I'm going to punch him in the face.

Well, this is new. A strange door was in front of me. A very stylish one at that. I put my hand on it and push against it. With a click the door opened like a kaleidoscope. I have to admit, that's a pretty awesome door mechanic.

…

Now I'm in a totally new place, with a sword in my hand. Makes sense.

" **So… you are the one pursuing me…"** There you are! **"Hmhmhm… Try all you like…"**

"Damn right I will! I'm going to make you shut up!" I ran toward the presence on the other side of the "room" and swung my sword with both hands. It connected, but didn't seem to do much. I knew I should've had kendo lessons, but America doesn't offer those!

" **Hmmm… it seems that you can see little, despite the fog…"**

"So, this is your doing? I'm going to so enjoy this." I swung again, cutting through the presence. But again, it didn't even faze it. What the hell is this thing made of? Even without kendo, getting sliced with a sword should do something.

" **I see… Indeed… That is very interesting information…"** Ah! Stop talking like that! **"But… you will not catch me so easily… If what you seek is the "truth," then your search will be even harder…"**

He did something… weird. Whatever he did, he made the fog a lot thicker. I can't even see where he is now.

" **Everyone sees what they want to… and the fog only deepens…"**

Okay, that's it. I'm now officially tired of this crap. I ran forward and swung the sword with all I had. Not only did I miss completely, I fell straight on my back from the momentum.

"… **Will we meet again… at a place other than here… Hmhm… I look forward to it…**

I try to say something sarcastic, but I felt a strange sinking feeling in my stomach. You know, resting here isn't too bad right now…

…

* * *

*knock knock*

"Breakfast's ready!"

Ah, Right, it's morning… and I still have school today as well, no unpacking for me. I get out of my futon and stretched. My dizziness is gone. Small victory there. Hopefully now I won't have strange dreams about fog and… fog people? What was that anyways? Whatever, probably not important anyways.

I opened one of my boxes, taking out my new school uniform I would be wearing. I gotta say, this school's uniform is badass. Who ever designed it needs an award.

After getting dressed, I went downstairs to the kitchen and was greeted by Nanako with a "Good morning." Even though it's still pouring rain outside.

"Morning!" I smiled and sat down at the table where a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast was in front of me.

Nanako sat down in front of me as some toast popped from the toaster. "Okay! Let's eat!" She seems like a morning person. I on the other hand enjoy nights, way more than mornings… though right now I'm strangely awake… Oh! Right, it's night time back in America, that explains it.

"So, do you do all the cooking?" Uncle isn't in sight, so it was a good assumption.

"I can toast bread and cook sunny-side eggs in the morning." And bacon apparently. "Dad can't cook, so I buy dinner." Wow, I'm surprised on how independent this girl is. I took a bite of the bacon. Bacon, bacon is soooo good…

Actually, I can see why she didn't say she cooked bacon. It was a little over cooked, but hey, she is six years old, I gotta encourage her. "You know, everyone loves bacon, so a little char isn't too bad, just as long as you don't burn it black, it's just fine." I would still eat it, bacon is just that good.

She seemed a little confused at my advice. I did just tell her that burnt food is fine. She shook her head and looked at me. "You're starting school today, right?" Changing the subject from bacon I see… "My school's on the way, so… Let's go together!"

After breakfast I quickly gathered my bag and school stuff and headed out with Nanako. It was still pouring, so we walked with umbrellas. We got close to a flood plain and Nanako turned to me.

"You keep going straight from here." She pointed where my school was and waved to me. "My school's this way. Bye!"

As I got toward the road next to the school, some guy passed me riding on an orange bike… while holding an umbrella. Wow, that's really not smart. He screamed as he ran right into a telephone pole. Ouch, that must have hurt, but still, he deserved it from trying to ride like that.

As I came in front of the school, I've realized one thing. No one wore their uniform unbuttoned like me. Does anyone wear this uniform in style? What a disrespectful gesture to the designer! Do they want to be bland and uninteresting?

Anyways, the school isn't too bad. I've seen worse. I entered it and found the faculty office, where I was told to meet my homeroom teacher. I should probably make a good first impression. I slid the door open and entered. Ugh… one word can describe the man in front of me. Teeth… what the hell? Has he ever been to the dentist before!?

He has a nasty glare… Oh crap! How long was I looking at his teeth?! I gotta fix this! "Um… Morooka-sensei…? I'm Yu Narukami, I'm the new transfer student…" Stop glaring at me…

"I know, I read your file kid. I'm glad that a city brat like you will only stay here for a year. Follow me to the class."

I think I'm doomed to suffer in this class. Why do I get him of all the teachers!?

I reluctantly follow him to the classroom and stood next to him in front of the class.

"Awright, shut your traps!" Okay, I guess he isn't just mad at me. He's pissed at everyone on the class. "I'm Kinshiro Morooka, your homeroom teacher from today forward! First things first! Just 'cause it's spring doesn't mean you can swoon over each other like love-struck baboons." What. "Long as I'm around, you students are going to be pure as the driven snow!" You know what? I'm glad I'm not on his good side. Who would want to be?

"Now I hate to waste my time, but I'd better introduce this transfer student. This sad sack's been thrown from the big city out to the middle of nowhere like yesterday's garbage." His choice of words are unique… "And he's just as much as a loser here as he was there, so you girls better not get any ideas about hitting on him!" I sigh and shrug my shoulders, making a few of the class snicker. Nice. "Tell'em your name, kid, and make it quick."

So apparently to him I'm a sad sack, (whatever that is.) garbage and a loser. I dunno if I'm any of those things, but I do know that I don't like taking insults like that. Try asking the people who tried insulting me back in America.

"I'm Yu Narukami." I turned toward Morooka. "But I gotta ask, does your dentist ever tell you that your teeth look like sad sacks?" That got a gasp from the class. Morooka looked like he wanted to punch me in the face.

Wow, he actually didn't punch me. Good for him. "Hrnh… That's it, you're on my shit list, effective immediately."

Than he went all teacher mode and lectured on how "kids today" had bad character. I would've felt bad that it was my fault that he gave everyone in the class the lecture, but it seemed that he had it prepared beforehand. Thankfully someone had a good sense to interrupt his ranting. It was a girl in a green track jacket, with her light brown hair cut into a bowl-cut. She looked cute… considering the haircut.

"Excuse me! Is it okay if the transfer student sits here?" The girl pointed at the seat next to her. I guess my badass-ness gets people drawn to me.

"Huh?" He replied, seemingly still lost in thought. "Yeah, sure. Ya hear that? Your seat's over there, so hurry up and siddown already!"

As I sat down at my desk, green leaned toward me. "He's the worst, huh?" She whispered. "Rotten luck for you to get stuck in this class… Well, we just have to hang in there for a year." She's not really wrong. I did have teachers like him, but they were more insane than anything. Morooka just pisses off everyone .

I could hear a bunch of people start whispering about me. They ranged from people who felt sorry for me, people who thought I was suicidal talking like I did, and people who were impressed by me.

"Shut your traps! I'm taking roll, and I damn well expect you to respond in an orderly manner!" When will this hell end?

After several hours of agonizing lectures with Morooka, class finally ended. I almost cried with relief that it was finally over and I survived this nightmare.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The Fool and a Fated Meeting.**

"That's all for today. Normal lectures will start tomorrow." Morooka looked like he wanted to leave more than I did. Damn, he wasn't fast enough as an announcement on the PA came on.

" _Attention all teachers. Please report immediately to the Faculty Office for a brief staff meeting. All students must return to their classroom and are not to leave the school until further notice."_

Do they want me to suffer? Now I'm stuck in here with all these people I don't even know, and I would like that to stay that way.

"Hmh. You heard the announcement. Don't go anywhere until you hear otherwise."

As soon as Morooka left, the classroom got loud with a bunch of conversations getting started. Ugh, I'm going to practice one of my special skills. Napping.

…

And my nap just got interrupted by sirens… I thought that this was a quiet town? I heard a few people comment on how it's been really foggy lately. It's none of my concern though. Back to napping…

...

"Hey." What now?

...

"Hey!" Gah! Someone just kicked my shin!

I pull myself off of my desk and look up at the person who kicked me. Oh, it was green. "Why'd you just kick me?"

"Oh, sorry. I thought you were ignoring me." I… kind of was. "The PA came back on and announced that we're free to leave."

I nod at her and get off of my seat. I lift my bag on my shoulder and prepare to leave.

"Hey, are you going home by yourself?" What does it look like? "Why don't you come with us?" Us? "Oh, nearly forgot! I'm Chie Satonaka. You know I sit next to you, right?"

I let out a sigh. You know what? Maybe I will try to be nicer? to her. I usually ignore everyone around me, but I'll try just this once. If only to humor her at the least.

"Of course."

"Well nice to meet you!" She turned to her friend. "This is Yukiko Amagi."

Yukiko's color was red. Red cardigan and a red hairband, which held her black hair in place. All in all, she looked like a normal Japanese girl.

"Oh, n-nice to meet you… I'm sorry that this is so sudden…" Already apologizing? She sounds kind of excessive.

Chie shook her head. "C'mon, don't apologize like that. It makes me look like I got no upbringing." At least this girl gets it. "I just wanted to ask some stuff. Really, that's all."

With that, we started to leave the classroom, but there was- "Um, Miss Satonaka?" an interruption.

Interruption presented Chie with a DVD case. "This was really awesome. Like, the way they moved was just amazing to see… And… I'mreallysorry! It was an accident! Please just have mercy until my next paycheck!" He handed it to Chie. "See ya! Thanks!" and bolted for the door. I dunno if I should say that he's brave for handing that to her or a wuss for running.

"Stop right there! What did you do to my DVD!" Chie chased after him. Ouch, that must have hurt. The guy just smashed his crotch against some desks.

Chie cracked open the DVD case. "What the!? I can't believe this! It's completely cracked… My trial of the dragon…!" It was a Kung Fu DVD?

The guy just stood there holding his crotch in pain. "I think mine's cracked too… critical hit to the nads…"

Yukiko gasped. "A-are you all right?"

"Oh, Yukiko-san… are you worried about me…?" Oh, I just realized something. This was the guy with the bike.

"He's fine." Chie reassured Yukiko. No, it's not. You don't know this feeling. "Yukiko, let's ditch him and go home." With that, they both walked out of the classroom. I looked back at the guy, just not your day, was it?

…

* * *

Walking outside of the school gates, Yukiko was confronted by the worst pick up artist I have ever seen.

"You're Yuki, right? Y-You want to go hang out somewhere?" No greeting. He called her by a nickname, and stuttered. Yup, totally not creepy. It's actually painful just to watch.

"What…? Wh-Who are you?" Yukiko was getting scared. No wonder there.

While all this was going on, somehow we drew a crowd. I could hear whispers of the exact thing that I was thinking. Whispers of "I bet you a can of TaP he gets knocked out." and "You would think he'd at least wait until she's along to make his move." Were clearly audible to him, probably breaking his self-esteem, or lack there of.

"Um, s-so… are you coming or not?"

"I-I'm not going…" Shocker.

"… Fine!"

Aaaand he's running. Having a temper tantrum wasn't a great exit strategy, but the way he acted it makes no diff… oh jeez he's crying? Now I feel a little guilty for mocking him, just a little.

"W-what did he want from me…?"

You can't possibly be serious.

"What did he want?" Chie chimed in. "Obviously, he wanted a date." She was actually serious. I don't even know how to respond to that.

"Well, he wasn't doing a good job at it anyways." I finally decided to join the conversation. "Or a decent one."

"Oh, so you're an expert at these things" Ouch, that hurt. "But really, calling you Yuki like that… it was way over the top."

"Yo, Yukiko-san. Turned down another lovelorn fool, huh?" He's already up and walking? It usually takes me at least a half a hour to recover from a nut-shot like that. "Man, you're cruel… you got me the same way last year."

How in the hell was he going to ride his bike after all that?

"I don't recall doing that." Yukiko retorted.

"Whoa, you serious? So then, you wanna hang out sometime!"

"… I'd rather not."

"That'll teach me to get my hopes up…"

"If it makes you feel any better, you did better than that guy." I motioned down the street with my head, pointing at that creep crying further down the street near a few dumpsters.

"Haha, thanks." He hopped unto his bike's seat. "You two better not pick on him too much."

"We're just curious is all!" Chie yelled back as he rode his bike away.

…

* * *

"Ah… so you came here because of your parents' job. Haha, I thought it was something way more serious."

As we walked back home, me and Chie was talking about a bunch of things, school, town, and that student who liked to run into things. (His name was Yosuke apparently.) Than the topic went to me. It seems that a lot of people were very curious about me, coming from America and all.

Yukiko just walked with us, not adding anything to our conversation. I guess she's just shy. She reminds me of someone, but I can't remember who…

"Yeah, I've been to many places before because of my parents. I'm just glad that I can finally stay at a place this long for once. Just going to be me and my uncle and niece."

"You sound mad about your parents."

"Mad might be a under statement." Who am I kidding. "It's more frustrating." More like pissing me off.

"living here won't help much I would think. Look, there's nothing here, huh? That's what makes it nice, but there's nothing much to show to people from the outside."

"No no no, Don't get me wrong. I've lived in many different kinds of places, some better than others." Now it looks like I'm bragging. Gotta recover. "Anyways, as I told my uncle, it's nice just to stay in one place more than a few months. Where I won't have to care what's around me… ah, wait a second, let me start ov-"

Chie stopped me before I could say anything else stupid. "It's fine, I was exaggerating anyways. There's more to do here like… I think our dyed clothes or pottery or something is kinda famous." Chie turned to Yukiko for more suggestions, than lit up. "Oh wait! And there's the Amagi Inn! Yukiko's family runs it. It's the pride and joy of Inaba!"

"Must be a pretty sweet Inn. I might come visit sometime." I haven't had a nice soak in a hot spring in a while.

Yukiko finally replied. "Huh? It's… just an old inn."

"No way, it's been in all sortsa magazines as a hidden treasure." Seriously, it's that nice? "It's a great inn! It's been going for generations, and Yukiko here is going to take over someday. Their Inn actually attracts a lot of visitors to Inaba. It pretty much keeps this town going." That and that store called Junes or whatever.

Yukiko denied it and we continued talking as we walked down the road. In till Chie decided to make it awkward.

"So, tell me. You think Yukiko's cute, huh?"

What the hell Chie! Ah, I should respond in a casual way. "Sure." I say with a shrug.

"Come on… Don't start this again…"

Chie laughed playfully. "Sorry! But this is our first time talking to someone from the city, America even, and you're aren't saying anything." Chie turned to me. "Plus, did you know that she's really popular at school, but she's never had a boyfriend. Kinda weird, huh?" Not really, considering she didn't know what the creep wanted her for.

"C-come on, stop it. Y-you shouldn't believe that, okay? It's not true that I'm popular or that I've never had a boyfriend!" Are you that oblivious? Or do you just fake all this?

"Yukiko, don't be shy." I was just about to add to this conversation, but something caught our eye up ahead. "Hey, what's that?"

Up ahead was a police cordon and a small group of people surrounding it. One woman was being a little to loud. "Well, I think it's terrifying. I can't believe a dead body showed up around here…" Wait. What.

"Wait… what did she just say? A dead body!?" Chie and me are thinking the same thing.

I was distracted that I didn't notice my uncle walk in front me, in till he spoke. "Hey, what're you doing here?"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Did something happen here?" Because seriously, I would rather not freak out these girls, but I'm rather curious.

"Well… you could say that." Didn't really answer my question, so I guess that's a yes than. "That damn principal. We told him not to let them through here…" I don't think he wanted to say that part out loud.

"You know this guy?"

I'll tell Chie the truth. I shrug. "Yeah, he's my uncle."

"I'm Detective Dojima. Well, how do I say this… I hope you get along with him."

… You could of left at being a detective. You just HAD to add that.

"But you three really ought to stop wandering around and head straight home." Uncle finished. But just as he did, another guy in a suit ran past him.

"Ngh… Uuuuurrghhh…" Ah. That's why he was running. Gross…

"Adachi! How long are you going to act like a rookie? You want to be sent back to the office!?" I guess uncle doesn't like people puking on the job. Not surprised.

"I-I'm sorry… Ngh…" The detective got up groggily.

Uncle sighed. "Go wash your face. We're gonna go around and gather information!" With that, they both walked away from us.

Green and Red was a little shaken from all this. But we decided to go our separate ways. The conversation would've gotten weird anyways. I headed straight home. I should probably tell Nanako that uncle won't be coming home anytime soon.

…

* * *

Nanako took the news more better than I expected. She must be used to it, it's kind of sad, but I can relate.

Naturally we were in front of the TV again, with the news being played, talking about the body. The body belonged to a woman named Mayumi Yamano, an TV announcer. The same one from the news back in Tokyo, with her affair with that local councilman's secretary. The weird thing is that they found her body found on top of an antenna on someone's roof. What was more weird was the fact that the police department reported that it was most likely an accident. How the hell could it have been an accident? Was she flying in the sky, fall, and impale herself on the antenna?

Oh, actually they're uncertain. They said that some fog is impending their progress. What's with the fog in this town? Still, it's really weird. How do they not snow how she died? Maybe she had a stroke or something?

"Oh, it's Junes!" Good, this should cheer up Nanako.

" _At Junes, every day is Customer Appreciation Day. Come see for yourself, and get in touch with our products!"_

" _Every day's great at your Junes!"_

"Every day's great at your Junes!"

"Every day's great at your Junes!" Yeah, I joined in. Real men sing these songs.

"You memorized it already? I'm the best one in my class!" Do they hold competitions for these type of thinks? Well, anyways, that made the mood in the room lift. Good. Now I gotta unpack all of my stuff. It's still full of boxes.

Back in my room. Alright, let's do this. First, my stuff that needs to be plugged in. Media player on my self, along with all my CDs and alarm clock, laptop on my desk, plus with all my other computer stuff around it. My clothes in the dresser, manga on my shelf… stuff some… let's call them magazines, between my books.

And now, last but so not least, my guitar. My baby, I'm so sorry that I left you! I took it out of it's case and laid it down on my futon. My Fender Stratocastor guitar… I would play it now, but I'm pretty tired, and I would probably wake up the whole neighborhood.

There, now this room feels more like home. I guess I'll listen to some music and go to bed. After setting my alarm clock, I hopped straight into bed.

…

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Man, I've been writing chapters way faster than usual, compared to my other fics. Anyways, I hope you've been enjoying this story so far, and review and whatever. Because reviews are an authors fuel.**

 **Dusk Emperor signing out.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: The Fool and the Midnight Channel.**

Waking up to "Wake up, Get up, Get out there" is so nice. Makes you wake up and have a good morning with style.

Dressed, fixed my bed head. Alright, time to have a nice breakfast.

I shut off my music and head down stairs… and what greeted me was Nanako cooking breakfast.

"Good morning, Nanako."

I must have scared her, because she jumped a little, flinging a pancake into the air.

I quickly snatched it from the air and put it in my mouth. "Thank you." I smile, patting her on the head.

She blushed and turned away from me. So… cute…

As she was trying to recover from my awesomeness, I grabbed my bag and headed for the door.

"Ah, where are you going?"

I look back at her. "I wish I could help you make breakfast, but I'm going to be late for school." Being late wouldn't be that bad, but with Morooka… That's another thing. "I'll see you when I get back!" With that, I left the house.

I guess I wasn't the only one running late. I barely caught a glimpse of that guy with his orange bike fly pass me. I bet a can of TaP that he's going to crash again.

Actually, is anyone that stupid to take that bet?

I found him up ahead in a garbage can, rolling around wildly.

"S-someone…!" Fine, I'll help him. I did ignore him, TWICE, yesterday. This'll be my good deed of the day. It would be a lot easier of he would stop kicking around.

"Thanks! You saved me… um…"

"Narukami." I reminded him.

"Oh yeah, that's right. You're that new transfer student, Yu Narukami." Oh, he did remember me. "I'm Yosuke Hanamura. Nice to meet ya."

"You too. Are you alright? You've been having a horrible week so far from what I could tell."

"Hehe. Yeah, it's fine. Chie's kicks are brutal, and she always aims for the weak spots."

Me and him wince simultaneously. "I remember."

You know what. He doesn't seem like a bad guy. We decided to idly talk about the murder that happened yesterday. He believed that it was a murder, and I think so as well. There was no way that was an accident. When we eventually decided to check the time, we saw that we were going to be late. Yosuke gave me a ride on his bike. We made it just in time for first period. Victory! But with it being Morooka's class… so not really?

…

* * *

And so begins Morooka's class of philosophy. Joy. Nothing crazy happened. He just yelled at us whenever the class brought up the murder last night.

And thus, a day of tolerable school, ended. "Yo, Yosuke." I greeted as such orange student walked up to me. He gave me a funny look. Oh right, Japan and their honorifics… "Look, I've been living in America for a long time, I'm just used to calling people by their name normally." Plus, I pulled you from a garbage can this morning. He dropped the funny face and nodded.

"So, you getting used to this place?"

"Nah." It might be because of the whole dead body incident. "Not yet."

"Yeah, you did just come here a few days ago, so that's normal. There isn't much to do here compared to the big city, but there is that certain… something you can't get anywhere else." Pretty much what Chie said to me. "The air's clean, the food's great… Oh, you know about the local delicacy?" I shook my head. "It's grilled steak, man! Like that's anything special!"

"Don't diss grilled steak." I countered. "That can be great in the right moment." Now I want some…

"Oh yeah? I know a place where you can get them for cheap. Wanna come? You helped me out this morning, so it's on me."

"We are now bros, please lead on!" No, I'm not being over dramatic. Grilled steak is amazing.

Chie thought it was good to destroy this moment. "What about me, huh? No apologies? My Trial of the Dragon…" Woman, you are in the way of me, uh- us eating steak.

"Urgh… You always come around when I'm talking about food…" Yosuke grumbled.

"How about it, Yukiko? Don't you think he should treat us too?"

"I'll pass…" Yukiko responded as she got up to leave. "I don't want to gain any more weight. I need to help out at the inn today, sorry." Good. Steak. Us. Now.

"Wow, Yukiko-san! You started training to take over the family business?" Does he not see me glaring at him?

"It's not like that! I'm just helping out when it gets busy. Well, I should be on my way."

With that, she left. Leaving Me, Yosuke and Chie.

"Oh well. We should get going too." So she's going too? Whatever, as long as I get some steak, I don't care.

"Huh? Do I seriously have to treat two people…?" Yes.

…

* * *

Junes, eh. Alright. I bet Nanako would be jealous if she knew I was here. I should probably bring her here sometime.

"THIS is the cheap place you were talking about…?" Chie complained to Yosuke, as he brought a tray of sodas. "They don't have grilled steak here." What.

"Yeah, well, once you hopped on the freeloader train, I had to change my plans."

There will be repercussions woman… better sleep with one eye open…

"Still, that's, no reason to take us to your place." His place? Sweet! I'm going to get a bunch of free- actually, since he brought over sodas, he won't be able to give anyone discounts.

"Dude, this isn't my place or anything." Huh? "Oh right. I haven't told you yet, huh?"

He explained that he moved here a few months ago because this store just opened up and his dad was assigned to manage it. We both have parents forcing us to move. Sucks to be us.

"Here, this is to welcome you to town." Yosuke slid one of the sodas toward me. "Satonaka, yours is on me too."

"Yeah, I know." Woman… you better be grateful.

We all took a giant gulp of the soda and started to talk about all different kinds of thing. From school, to the incident from yesterday. Chie says that people blame Junes for their stores closing down. Just like the old man said from earlier.

While we were talking, a girl who looked like she worked here sat down at a table near us. I would've ignored her, but as soon as Yosuke saw her, his eyes lit up. "Hey… It's Saki-senpai! Sorry, be right back." And just like that he left.

I decided to ask Chief about her. "Is she Yosuke's girlfriend?"

"Haha, he wishes."

"He's not really hiding it, is he."

"No, not really. That's Saki Konoshi. Her family runs a liquor store in the shopping district."

Than why does she work here? Shouldn't she help out her family business? Is Junes- AH! Why is she so close to me now!

"Are you the new transfer student?" She giggled. "Oh, did you hear about me already?"

Yes. Now can you please give me some personal space.

"It must be nice to have someone else from the big city to talk to, huh?"

"Well, act-"

I don't see Hana-chan hanging out with the other guys much. He doesn't have too many friends, so I hope you two get along good."

"Yeah, we-"

"Hana-chan's a good guy, but he can get nosy sometimes. You gotta tell him right to his face when he starts to annoy you."

…Hm? I can finally talk now? How very kind of you. "Nah, he's a great guy." You are the annoying one. Hopefully my tone got across to her that I really didn't like her.

"… I know… I'm just kidding." Sure you were. Yosuke you should stay away from her. "Well, my breaks just about over. Back to work I go…"

"Oh, uh, Senpai…!" Yosuke watched her leave, as she completely ignored him and sat back down. "Hahah, Saki-senpai says I'm annoying, but she's even nosier than me. She treats me pretty much the same way as her younger brother."

"Ohhh, you don't want her treating you like a brother, huh? I get it. The daughter of a local family-run liquor store and the scion of the invading chain. The flames of forbidden love!" Wow, Chie can use the word 'scion' in a sentence correctly. You're smarter than I thought.

"Wha-!? Dude, it's not like that."

Oh reaaaally… Well, I know just the thing to cheer up that lovesick heart. You ever hear about the Midnight Channel?" Midnight Channel? Is that some kind of local superstition?

Chie explained that you are supposed to look at a TV, switched off along, exactly at midnight on a rainy day. While watching it, a image of your soulmate appears on the screen or whatever. Me and Yosuke thought it was stupid, but Chie insisted that we try it. So guess what I'm doing tonight…

After hanging around Junes for a little while longer, we all went our separate directions. Chie reminded us both to check it tonight before she left. She's really into this stuff, huh?

…

* * *

Nanako was depressed as we ate dinner. Uncle still wasn't back yet. I decided to reassure her. "Don't worry, I bet he's on his way right now."

"… Yeah." Nanako gave me a half-hearted reply.

All of a sudden, almost on cue, the front door slid open.

"Oh! He's home!" Nanako exclaimed, hopping up off of the ground.

Uncle staggered in, looking very tired. "What a day…" I don't blame him, he was probably going non-stop all day. "I'm back. Did anything happen while I was out?"

Nanako shook her arms, trying to look angry. "No. You're late again…"

"I'm sorry. Been busy at work." Uncle walked over and sat on the sofa. "Can you put the news on for me?"

Nanako reluctantly sat back down and flicked on the news. It was just a follow-up report about the incident yesterday. Just confirming a few facts about the affair and stuff. Maybe the whole murder is revenge from the councilman secretary's angry wife? It said that the police would investigate there relationship. Oh, they even have a interview with the one who found the body.

Uncle sighed. "An interview with the kid…? Where in the hell did they find her?"

The girl had her eyes covered by a black bar and her voice was changed. The whole privacy problems. She seemed very confused and didn't really say anything informative. She seems familiar though, but I just can't pin point where…

Now because of the whole body incident, they say that the shopping district might lose customers.

"Hmph. If they lose more customers, it'll be because you're making such a stink about it…"

The news continued, commenting on how no one came out to take credit for the crime yet. Well, no shit. Who would say, "I did it!"

"Loads of prank calls, though." Uncle grumbled.

Now they're even dissing the police for not figuring out the cause of death. Finally, it's over. Oh, Junes' commercial came on.

Nanako sang it like always and turned to Uncle. "Hey Dad… Can we go to Junes together sometime?" But uncle was completely out of it, which I mean, he was asleep. "No…?" Nanako sighed. "Geez…"

With that, dinner was over. Uncle was sleeping and Nanako was watching her favorite quiz show.

"When I go to bed, I'll wake Dad up and tell him to go to his own room."

I nod at Nanako and stretched. I guess I'll just chill out in my room in till midnight.

I decided to sit at my desk and listen to some music as I read some manga. Looking up at my clock, it was five minutes before midnight. I quickly shut off all my lights, closed my curtains and sat watching a blank TV screen for five minutes.

57

Chie better be right about this.

58

Even though it would never work, right?

59

…

00:00

…

…

Nothing? Well Chie wa- huh? What the? Something is really happening!?

… there was a girl with light brown hair…

… oh HELL no. Was that Saki? Yosuke can keep her, I don-

 **-I ART THOU-**

Where was that coming from?

 **-THOU ART I-**

Argh!... My… my head hurts!... It won't stop ringing!

 **-THOU ART THE ONE-** … please stop… **-WHO OPENS THE DOOR-**

STOP!

...

… Huh?... It stopped? What was that just now.

I stare at the TV some more. Does this thing even work anymore? I reach out my hand to flick it on, but that whole, voice in my head thing, through me off and I totally missed it.

Now my whole hand was missing! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!

Did I just feel a tug on my- "YAH!" I fell forward, I only escaped falling in fully, due to the size of the TV screen.

No way in hell I'm dying like this. I push against the TV casing with my one free hand attempting to free myself. All of a sudden there was a lack of resistance, causing me to fall backwards.

… and crack my head open on the table behind me. Why was that there?

"Are you okay…?" Nanako's voice. Dammit, I must have woke her up.

"Maybe…? Actually, yes, I'm fine."

"Okay." That was a close call. "Well, good night."

"Night." Right, sleep. You know what? This ground looks very inviting, I'm just sleeping here tonight. Don't want to fall through a portal on my bed, now would I?

…

* * *

… Argh… my head… I am not in the mood for waking up in style today.

What happened last night. I guess the Midnight Channel thing was real. But the whole entire incident after? I'll just have to discuss with them later.

Dressed. Grabbed breakfast. Gone.

…

* * *

I used to like the rain, but this is on the ridiculous side. It's literally pouring buckets outside. Glad I have my trusty um- ah, green decided to run under my umbrella.

"Perfect timing! Sorry, move over!" Why must you be so pushy. You took away my steak and now this? "I did have my own, but I saw this Kung Fu movie where they used an umbrella to pull off some sweet moves…" Chie cringed. "And… I accidentally broke mine trying to mimic the movie."

"Well, not everyone can have nice things…"

Chie looked away embarrassingly, and shook her head. "What do you know… By the way… did you see it!?"

I'm gonna assume she ment the Midnight Channel. I nod. "I did."

"Aha! Do tell. But the person it showed… Never mind. I'll save it for when the others are around. We're gonna be late for school."

We continued down the street, when Chie started to fidget around. "Oh… U-Uhh… It's kinda awkward to only bring this up now, but… we're pretty close here…" Even green can be like this? Better store this info for later. "U-Um, I'm gonna just go ahead and run the rest of the way!"

Chie was about to run off but she stopped when I tugged on her jacket's sleeve. "Don't worry about it. With this rain, you would probably get a cold." Tell me why I'm being nice to her? She was the one who got my head cracked open last night.

"Huh…? Are you sure? If you say so, then… I guess it's okay. Thanks." Chie gave me a cute smile. Yu, get a hold of yourself! "Alright, let's go."

…

* * *

So, apparently my world history teacher is some kind of Egyptian fanatic. She was literally wearing a pharaoh hat, or hood?, and was even holding the cane. Her name was Kimiko Sofue.

"Our new transferee, Narukami-san, please stand up." Huh? I pull out my seat and stood up. "The western calendar is based on Anno Domini, the traditionally believed year of Jesus Christ's birth. What is the year before 1 AD called?"

I raised an eyebrow at her. Is this actually a high school question? "1 BC."

"Ah, you seem to understand this well." She went on to talk about how history is like math and the different calendars, blah blah blah. I just sat back down and ignored most of it.

Anyways, about last night. What was that voice I heard? And the whole TV business? I was getting pulled into the TV. It was some kind of dimension. Maybe I was just imagining it. I did hit my head pretty hard.

Huh? School is already over? I guess being lost in thought on strange TV things makes the time go by. Actually… did I even have lunch?

"My senpai told me it was a third-year named Saki who found the body." Did she?

You know, not important. I got to find green and orange, to discuss some things.

"Y-Yo. Um…"

There's one. "Hey, Yosuke." We stood there, awkwardly staring at each other. I guess he had something strange happen to him too.

"It's, uh, it's not really that important, but… Well, yesterday on TV, I… Oh, Uhh… Never mind. Look, I'll tell you later, heheh…"

"Yosuke, did you hear the rumor?" Hey Chie. "Saki-senpai's supposedly the one who discovered the body."

As we were talking, Yukiko got up from her seat to leave. Chie noticed this and turned to look at her. "Huh? Hey Yukiko, are you helping out at the inn today too?"

Yukiko looked down. "Things are really it of hand right now… I'm sorry." With that, she left.

"Is it just me, or does Yukiko-san seem way stressed out today?" Wow, Yosuke, great deduction.

"By the way, did you see… it… last night?" Thank you Chie, for bringing up the important matter.

"Huh…? Uh, well… what about you?" Yosuke, don't answer with another question.

"How can you be so calm Chie? THE FREAKING SUPERSTITION WAS ACTUALLY REAL!" The two of them looked at me with shock. All of the students in the classroom are now too apparently.

"Wait, so you saw it too?" I nod to Yosuke.

"I did! I seriously saw a girl!" Chie chimed in. Totally more spooky than falling into TVs. "But… my soulmate's a girl? What's that supposed to mean?

"Well…" I began.

"I couldn't quite tell who it was, but it was a girl for sure. "I wanted to tell. "Her hair was brown, about shoulder length. She was wearing out school uniform, and…"

"Hey!I think that's the same person I saw!" Yosuke interjected. "Though I couldn't make out that much detail. The image I saw was much blurrier…"

"…Same." I could easily guess who it was though. But, if what we saw was all the same person, this Midnight Channel has a another purpose than Chie talked about… "Did anything else happen to both of you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" Here it goes. "After the Midnight Channel ended I heard a strange voice calling me inside of my head. Saying, "Thou art I" and stuff and I got a sudden pain in my head. Than I touched my TV screen and my hand went right through it, something tugged me forward to the screen until my head went through. I would of went all the way in, but my TV was too small.." I need a breather…

"…"

"…"

Chie was the first to laugh. "Hahahaha!"

Than Yosuke soon joined her. "Hahahaha!"

I knew I should of just been quiet about it.

Strangely, Yosuke was the first to recover. "So you heard some weird voices and than you got sucked into your TV? Were you that tired last night? You've must just fallen asleep in front of your TV."

Chie eventually stopped laughing. Eventually. "Yeah, I like the part where you got stuck 'cause your TV was too small. That's pretty realistic." Screw you guys. "Ohhh, that reminds me. Our family's been talking about buying a bigger TV."

"Oh yeah? We've been beefing up our electronics department this month. So you wanna stop over on the way home?"

"Oh, definitely! My parents don't know anything about electronics, and I just gotta see my Kung-Fu movies on the big screen!" Chie struck a Kung-Fu pose.

"Well, we got some pretty big ones in stock." That ends the conversation about the Midnight Channel. "I bet we could find one big enough for you to fit into, heheh." Except the mocking, of course.

…

* * *

When we got to Junes, we went straight to the electronics department.

"Wow, this is huge!" Chie exclaimed next to a pretty huge TV. "And… Holy crap, it's expensive! Who buys something like this?"

"I dunno… Rich folks?" Yosuke answered. I didn't tell him that my parents have one of these in _one_ of their houses they own. I don't know why they bother having multiple houses. "Honestly, not many people shop for TVs here. That's why we don't he clerks around."

"Huh… not worth trying then, I guess. Well, at least looking's free."

They looked at each other, nodded, and walked toward the TV. Both started to tap the screen.

Oh I see, you haves jokes now, huh? Hilarious.

"… Nope, can't get in. Figures."

"Haha, this proves it. It was all a dream."

"Oh really?" Screw it. I don't care I look if I stupid. I tapped the TV's screen. It rippled just like last night!

Yosuke and Chie walked away, with Yosuke showing her some more TVs. I motioned to them to come here, than stuffed my whole arm in, elbow deep.

Watching them try to register what happen was so beautiful. Their emotions went from, confused, horror, than panic. Serves you right for trying to… Wait a second, it actually worked.

Last night did happen. My arm is actually inside the TV…

Both of them started to freak out, me included. I quickly pulled my hand free of the TV.

"Oh man… This is for real… That's some magic trick, man! How are you able to do that?"

I guess I can pass through TV screens? "I dunno." I simply answered.

"What do you mean you do-" I interrupt Chie as I try to put my head through. "What are you doing!"

"I'm going in." This power of mine, isn't from the Midnight Channel. It's from that voice in my head saying that I can open a door. "I got to see what's on the inside. You two just keep watch."

"But, what ar-" I couldn't hear what Yosuke said as my head passed through the TV.

Hm. Can't see much from here. Looks like it has a bunch of space. I pulled myself out of the TV and told them.

"Wh-What do you mean empty space?"

"I mean empty space. I can't see very clearly, but there is a lot of space in there. I'm going in to check it out."

"Holy crap… I-I think this is all to much for my bladder…"

"W-what!? No, it's too-" I felt bad for interrupting Chie twice, but I had to check this out. "I'll be fine. Be back in a minute." I pull my left leg inside, searching for a footing.

Chie grabbed my arm, but that only made me lose my balance on my other leg. Falling in, Chie gripped me tighter, but only got pulled in with me.

Last I heard was Yosuke shouting out our names, and than falling….

…

* * *

 **Okay, done. A much longer chapter than the others, but it is the weekend, so I had a bunch of more time to type out all this.**

 **Hope you all been enjoying this so far and I'll see you next time.**

 **Dusk Emperor signing out.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Day of Rain and murder**

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"Shiiiiii-UGH!"

"ACK!"

"OOF!"

First I crack my head, and now this? I'm going to have some serious bruises by tomorrow. "Are you guys okay?"

"I think my butt's cracked now…" Yosuke… I'm not going to comment on that.

"So… where are we?" Good question Chie. "I can't see a thing. Do you know where Yosuke?"

"How should I know. What's with all this wiring and lights? Maybe it's some kind of TV studio? With all this fog, it's kind of hard to tell."

"Makes sense. We did fall into a TV and all." I start to wander around a little.

"All this fog… or is it smoke?"

"I dunno." Ah, this might be a problem. "Hey guys, do you see some kind of exit around here?"

Chie's face went into confusion. "What are you talking about it's right… Ahhh!" Chie whipped around wildly. "Which way did we come in from? I don't see the way out!"

I shook my head. "Remember, Chie, we fell to this place, from pretty far up for what I could tell. There was no exit since we got here. Let's just look for a way out."

"Yeah, just like what Narukami says. Let's calm down and think about this." Yosuke took few calming breaths. "We got to find a way out."

Chie still looked on edge. Guess she doesn't believe there is a way out.

I thought about it for a few seconds and came up with some ideas. "Alright, because we fell in here through a TV, shouldn't we be able to come back through another TV. Or maybe different TVs go to different places. Because if that's the case, leaving here won't be so simple."

Yosuke tried to keep up with my logic. "If that's true… than how does that help us?"

Oh. "It… Doesn't?"

"Great Narukami, you got us all trapped here! I just want to go home!" Chie crouched down and whimpered.

Well, you're the one who pushed me in. But… She's right. I should of came here on my own. I dragged them into my own problems. Literally.

I walked over to Chie and crouched down to her. "Look, I'm sorry Chie-chan. Don't worry, I'll get us all out of here, I promise you that."

Chie looked at me and nodded. "… alright… but you better be right about this."

I nodded and stood back up. "Okay, Yosuke, which way should we start looking first?"

"Uh…. Maybe that way?" He pointed at a random direction.

"Okay. Let's go!"

…

* * *

After what felt like we were walking for miles, we made it to some kind of apartment complex? Hard to tell with all this fog. It had dozens of doors, covering empty rooms. We were going to turn back around, but we noticed strange door that looked different than the others.

Well, it wasn't really a door. It was lined with red and black swirls. All in all, it looked really ominous. After a little bit of urging from me, we entered the strange door.

We found ourselves not an exit, but what looked like a bedroom.

"Hey, Narukami, is it just me or is the fog lighter here?"

"Yeah, Yosuke, you're right. And a good thing too. That fog was giving me a headache."

Yosuke took the opportunity to check his phone. "No service. What a surprise…"

Chie slowly walked forward, glancing around. "Can't you guys slow down a little? It's hard enough to see where you're going…"

We took the time to check out the room we were in. I'm surprised I didn't instantly notice all the strange posters on the walls, with the same person with her face scratched out. Plus red and yellow paint was splotched all over. Yosuke was the first one to comment on it. "It keeps getting creepier and creepier the further we go… oh, man! I can't hold it in anymore!" Yosuke ran into the corner of the room, fidgeting with his pants.

"Are you going to do it-!" Chie was interrupted as Yosuke questioned the posters.

"Wait have I seen this person before?" I guess pissing wasn't very important anymore.

"Whoever it was, this person must have hated her. All her faces are all cut out…" Chie added. Are we just going to pretend what Yosuke was going to do never happen? Okay than.

Yosuke walked to the center of the room. "Dude… this chair and rope… That kind of arrangement is never good…" He commented on the chair with a scarf hanging above it. "It's tied in a noose… is this a scarf?"

Chie laughed nervously. "C'mon… Let's just look somewhere else for an exit…"

"Yeah, I agree with Chie. This place doesn't have an exit. Plus… this place makes me a little uneasy… Let's go back."

"Now that you mention it, me too…" Yosuke agreed. "Alright, let's go back. I'm seriously starting to feel sick…"

…

* * *

We finally reached back where we started. All three of us were feeling worse by the second.

"Whew… We finally made it back here…" Chie said relief in her voice. "Wait… What's that…? She pointed behind me.

I turned around to see some kind of a shadow in the distance.

The shadow started to move toward us. As it got into a more visible distance, I could kind of make out what it was. It looked… weird. Kind of like an egg upside down wearing clown clothes?

… I don't think I'm thinking clearly… That's for sure…

"What is this thing? A monkey? A bear…?" Chie, where does this thing look like an animal? Oh, it does have ears. I see it now.

I'll still say it's a clown egg.

"What in the world..." Great question Yosuke. Just the question we needed.

"Th-that's what I wanna know!" HOLY SHIT, CLOWN EGG CAN TALK!? "Who are you guys?"

Chie gasped. "It talked!" I KNOW! "What are you!? Y-You wanna fight!?" Can you fight an egg clown?

"D-Don't yell at me like that…" The egg started to cower in fear.

"Uh, guys. I think we're scaring it." I realized. They both look at me, confusion etched into their faces. I shook my head. "Hey… egg thing… do you know where we are?"

The egg stopped cowering just enough to answer me. "This place is where I live. If I were you guys, I'd hurry back to the other side. It's not safe here." It stopped and thought for a second. "And I'm a bear!."

"Why is that?" So now you want to talk, Yosuke.

"Someone's been throwing people in here."

"What do you mean, throwing people in here. Who?"

"I dunno who's doing it! I just want them to think before they go doing things like that!"

"Hey, what's your problem? What gives YOU the right to yell at us like that!?" Chie started to yell. "What the heck's going on here!?"

The egg got scared and ran behind me, cowering in fear. "I already told you… A-anyways, you should hurry back."

"You want us out of here, right? Well so do we! We just don't know how dammit! The freakin exit is missing!" Well at least someone is thinking straight. Chie just looks like she wants to kill him.

"That's why I'm saying I'll let you out!" I don't remember you saying that.

Wait, really? "You can do that?"

"Of course I can. I'm a beary capable bear!" He giggled at his own pun and tapped the ground with his foot. A pile of TVs appeared out of nowhere.

"What the hell!?" Yosuke…

"Wh-Where did those TVs come from!?" Chie…

"Who cares, we have a way out now." I say as I start to put my hand through the screen.

"Okay, now go, go, go, get outta here!" What? "I'm a busy bear!"

"Yes, I kno- AH hey! Quit pushing, dammit!"

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"Huh? Is this…?"

"Did we… make it back?"

"Look's like we did." Good. I thought I was going to lose my mind in there. "Are you both okay?"

"More or less." Yosuke answered first. "I still feel a little sick though."

"Yeah, but I think I might need to go home and lie down in my bed for awhile."

" _Attention, shoppers. Our daily limited-time sale will begin at the side dish array on the first floor. Why not try the delicious, fresh produce Junes picked for you this morning as your side dish for dinner tonight?"_

"Crap, it's already that late!? I better go ho- That's right! Now I remember where I saw that poster before. Look over there! That's the poster we saw! It's that enka singer Misuzu Hiiragi who's been all over the news!"

"Oh yeah." Chie agreed. "Something about her husband having an affair with that announcer lady who died the other day."

Yosuke's thoughts were easily written on his face. "Does that mean… that the announcer lady is somehow related to that weird room we saw? With that noose and chair…" He shook his head trying to stop thinking about it. "Yaargh, No more! We gotta stop talking about this."

"Yosuke, sorry about all this." I almost got everyone killed. I knew I should of just stayed out of everyone's way.

"It's fine, Narukami. No harm done. Let's just forget about it."

"Yeah, we just gotta go home and rest for a little bit." Chie gave me a reassuring smile.

"Alright… see you all later"

We all went our separate ways.

…

* * *

"Hey, welcome home." …uncle? You're actually here, and I'm late. I guess I can't complain here.

"Hey uncle. Hi Nanako." I greeted as I fell down onto my seat at the table.

"Uh-Hmm… Well, I doubt you'd know…" uncle began. "But have you heard anything about a student named Saki Konishi?"

"Uh…" I tried remembering what people were saying about her this morning. "Oh, right. People were saying that she the one who discovered the body."

Uncle sighed. "Yeah, it's true… To be honest we got a call from her family. She's disappeared." What. "We've got people looking for her, but she hasn't been found yet…"

I should probably tell him. "I met her just yesterday."

"Oh? When did you?"

I was about to explain to him when the news came on. Apparently that announcer lady was staying at the Amagi Inn, the one run by Yukiko's family… before she was murdered.

Anyways, I turn to uncle. "She was working at Junes when I saw her. She seemed a little… off though. Probably be- ACCHOO!... Ugh, sorry. Guess I'm getting a little sick…"

Uncle looked like he wanted me to keep talking, but he understood. "Are you sick? You're probably still adjusting to the new environment. Nanako, could you get him some cold medicine for your cousin?" She nodded and ran off. "You should get to bed after you take it."

"I think you're right. Thank you uncle." Nanako came running back with some pills and a glass of water. I thanked her with a smile and took them from her.

I made a quick stop at the bathroom and took the medicine. Ugh… I seriously almost got people killed today. Maybe I should continue to stay away from people?

I shook my head and headed for my room. Am I some kind of fool? Huh, fool, why does that word come to mind? Whatever. As soon as I entered my room, I flopped down unto my bed and instantly fell asleep.

…

* * *

I think I need to change my alarm. Need something fresh. Maybe an American band.

As soon as I got down the stairs, uncle was heading out the door.

"Ah, you're up. Well, I'm off."

"See you la-" **BANG**. Oookay? I guess he was in a rush?

"… Dad has to go do something. He got a call, so he left." Oh, well, it must have been important.

"Never mind than. Good morning Nanako." Justice… Hmm? Where did that come from? Anyways, talking about Saki can wait. If they want info about her, they should just talk to Yosuke.

"Good morning!" She smiled. Good, at least she isn't all worried.

"I'll be skipping breakfast today and probably walking to school early." From all that stuff yesterday, who could eat? Weird TV worlds, egg bears… fog…

The rain is really pouring again today. I guess I'll just hang out in the classroom for a hour. Maybe read some books on my phone or something.

I could hear some police sirens… Oh no… this cannot be good….

…

* * *

School went by surprisingly fast, considering all the stuff on my mind. Yosuke stayed oddly quiet through the whole day. Magician. I can't blame him though, but it makes me really concerned.

After class, we all headed for a school assembly.

Hopefully that's all it is…

As we all got into the auditorium, I could hear a bunch of students talking about some non-specific rumor. Guess it wasn't that true if all they talked about was "it"

Chie was concerned from another matter. Chariot. "Yukiko said she'd be here after lunch…" She sighed and turned to me and Yosuke. "I wonder why they're holding a school assembly all of a sudden."

Yosuke stayed silent. I did as well.

"… Hey, what's wrong, Yosuke?"

"… It's nothing…" He lied. We all went quiet as the assembly began.

" _Everyone, please settle down. The school assembly is about to begin"_ The pharaoh lady stepped down from the podium so the principal could step up to the microphone.

" _I… regret to say that I have a terrible announcement for all of you…"_

Oh no…

" _One of or third-year students, Ms. Saki Konishi of Class 3…"_

No, please no…

"… _has passed away."_

Chie said something. Yosuke struggled to keep it together.

I just left. I couldn't stay in there any longer. Went looking for a good place to sit down… and think. Third floor near the stairs for the roof… works fine.

She was the one who found the body. Maybe the murders are connected to the TV world? She found the body, so the killer had to get rid of her, right? 'someone's been throwing people in here' that's what that bear said…

So the killer is using that world to kill people? They must have the same power as me…. I clenched my fist tightly. Dammit…

"You knew, didn't you." Yosuke. I guess the assembly was let out.

"Yeah." He punched me in the face. It didn't really hurt as bad. I'm used to it, also, Yosuke isn't really at his best at the moment.

"How did you know?" He asked, rubbing his reddened knuckles.

"Look, she found the body, she went missing. I told my uncle about her. He's a detective and he said she went missing last night. And finally, I heard a bunch of sirens in the morning, so it was obvious…"

He punched in the face again. That time it actually kind of hurt. Guess I pissed him off. "How can you be so calm about this? … Do you even care!?"

"… This is how I deal with things. I would probably punch a brick wall right about now, but what would that accomplish? But it's not healthy to keep it in, so let it out, by, let's say, punching someone in the face?"

He just stood there. I don't think we need an emotionless wall at the moment…

"Did you watch it again last night?"

"It?" I asked. Oh that 'it'. "No, I had other things in my mind. why?."

"Because something was bothering me, so… I watched it again and… I think the girl on the screen was Saki-senpai." Ohh. Guess it's time to come clean.

"It was." He looks like he's going to punch me again. "Look, back than, we thought it was about that soulmate crap. I didn't want to tell you about it because you would have been pissed. When we confirmed we all saw the same person, I just thought it was for a different reason entirely." Wait a second. "… maybe it IS for a different reason."

"Yeah. When I saw it last night, it looked like senpai was writhing in pain and then… she disappeared from the screen. They said that they found her body in a similar situation just like that announcer's, right?"

"I see. So you're saying that since they were both found the same way, that they were killed by the same killer. So there's a connection between the murders and the Midnight Channel?" He nodded. "I already knew about that connection from what that egg bear told us."

"There's even more. Chie said something about some people talking about how they saw Yamano on Midnight Channel before she was killed."

"It seems that we might be right."

"We need to investigate that world again."

"Are you sure? We might not be able to get out again."

"…Yeah, I need to find out about it myself."

"… then I'm coming with you. And besides, you can't get in without me anyways." I give him a grin.

Yosuke looked very excited about this, considering the situation. "I'm gonna grab a few things. You tell Chie what's happening and meet me at Junes."

"I'm guessing that you have a plan for all this. But do you have one to get Chie to come along?"

"Chie isn't coming in with us." Huh? "I just need her there."

…

* * *

We were walking to Junes and I was informing her what we were gonna do, but, well, my conversation with Chie could have went better.

"D-don't do that!... You could all get killed! You should just let the police handle it!"

"Police? They would never believe us talking about a TV world that kills people! They would just laugh at us."

"W-well, at least don't drag Yosuke into this."

"Actually, Yosuke is the one who requested this before I could."

Chie looked down. "I can kinda understand how he feels… But you can't be sure that we'll be able to get out safely again."

…

* * *

"You guys came!" What the?

"I came to stop you, idiot!" He's holding some rope. "You shouldn't do this… It's too dangerous…" Don't tell me that this was your plan?

"I'm with Chie-chan now. How the hell do you think that this would work? … and why are you holding a golf club?"

"What? The rope will be an easy escape, we just need to be pulled back up." No. "And what's wrong with the golf club? It'll be a nice for you to have weapon." Good, remind me to hit him with it. "If all else fails, we might be able to meet that bear again."

"Maybe isn't good enough!" Chie shouted.

"Look, I can't just act like everyone else and pretend this has nothing to do with me. Look, you can't stop me. So I want you to hold this rope for me and wait here. We'll be just fine, I promise." Wow, Yosuke, not bad.

Yosuke handed me the golf club as I nod to him. "You ready?"

"Yeah, let's go." He turned to Chie. "I trust you with that rope. Don't let go."

I pushed Yosuke through the screen and jumped in after him.

…


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: I Am Thou**

 **Authors note:**

 **To FoxOnPie, As I said in the beginning, the beginning of this fanfiction would be slow. Have you ever played Persona 4? The opening to that game is literally three hours of dialog. But don't worry, if you saw the chapter title, you would know that stuff will be going down in this chapter and the next few of them. So look forward to that.**

 **Anyways, let's start the chapter.**

…

* * *

Yosuke landed in a roll in front of me. I was less graceful.

The floor is still painful as I remember it.

"Look, this is the same place as last time!" Yes, I can remember the design of this place ever since I faceplanted here. "So they are connected from place to place!"

I got up and dusted off my pants. "Not necessarily. They could all go here, but we never tried going through a different TV."

"Y-You guys… Why'd you come back…?" It's egg clown… or clown bear. He waddled toward us. "I get it! You're the ones behind this!"

"You're that thing from last time!" Glad you got the memo… "Wait, what the hell did you just say!?"

"Lately, I can tell someone's been throwing people in here. It's making this world more and more messed up. This is the second time you guys came here. And I don't think anyone forced you in. That means you're the most suspicious! You guys must be the one throwing the people in here!" He growled at us. Was that supposed to be menacing?

I turned to Yosuke. "He does have a point. We do look really suspicious."

"But we're not the culprits! We're trying to find who's been doing all this!"

"But he-" Hm? The bear leaned his head to me. "Look, we should just explain it to him.

And explain we did.

"So… we came up with this plan with this… rope? … Um… Narukami?" Yosuke said to me, holding up a piece of the rope that was supposed to be tied to him.

"What? Why are you surprised? I told you this would happen."

"H-hey bear! You better let us out once we're done investigating here!" Yosuke, you need to work on how to ask for favors.

He growled again. "I'm the one who wants to investigate! I've lived here for a long time. But it's never been noisy like this till now. Do you have proof? Prove to me you're not throwing people in here!"

"And how do we prove that?"

"See! So it is you guys!" Ugh, this is going nowhere.

"For the last time, it's not us, so we've got nothing to prove to you!" Yosuke shook his head and took a calming breath. "Look, we all know that when people show up here, they come back in our world dead. So why would we be here knowing that? Especially because there's no way out."

…

Oh? Did that finally get him to stop and think?

"A dead body? Whenever the fog appears…?" Clown egg had a thinking face on. "I know that when it's foggy on your side, the fog lifts here. It's really dangerous when the fog lifts. That's when the Shadows get violent."

"Foggy on this side… Shadows get violent…? If you get it, then explain it to us dammit!" Yosuke answered before I could.

"Okay, no more questions! I know you guys did it! You better stop right now!"

"This again? I've told you and told you, we're not the ones doing it! I've about had it with you… why the hell won't you listen to what we're saying!?" Chill, Yosuke.

"I-I'm just saying… You might be the culprits. I-I'm just making sure…"

"Alright, this bear is giving me a headache. Yosuke, you keep on talking to it." Yosuke gave me a annoyed stare but I ignored it. Sit down, earphones, phone, music. Ahhh! Much better. I could only listen to half of the conversation.

Yosuke sighed. "What is this place, anyways? It looks like a TV studio… Is something being filmed here…? Wait, is that weird show being filmed here?"

"Weird show? Filmed? What does that mean?"

"Uh… I'm asking if someone's been filming the people that get thrown in here."

"… I don't get it? This world has always been like this. No one has ever done that filming thing here."

"Always been like this? But someone had to have built something like this!"

"Only me and Shadows are here! I told you before!"

"Ugh… We don't know what these Shadow things are! Or what you are either, for that matter! You keep telling us to prove our innocence, but you're the most suspicious thing here! Maybe you're the real culprit! And what's with that stupid costume!? I'd say it's time you showed your face!" Wait, what? I took out an earphone trying to see what Yosuke wa- AHHHHH!.

Yosuke was holding the head of the 'bear' costume we were talking to. Next to him was the other half, swinging his arms around wildly, trying to get his head back.

But the strange this was the inside. It was empty. Just a dark void. The kind of void that you would get lost in if you stared at it too long. It wasn't even affected by the lights or fog… it just existed… or maybe it didn't.

Yosuke recovered first from this strange horror. "Wh-What the hell are you…? Y-You're empty inside…" He dropped the head in sheer shock from what he just witnessed.

The thing took the opportunity to steal back his head. "Me…? The culprit…? I wouldn't do such a thing…" He acted like he didn't just scared the crap out of Yosuke. "I just want to live here peacefully…"

"Um… bear thing? I think we should stop suspecting each other and just start investigating?"

"Okay. I'll believe that you guys aren't the culprits. But I want you to find the real guy who did all this. You have to stop him. Promise me, or else I'm not gonna let you guys outta here." He threatened, a big smile on his face. How is he able to do that?

"Y-You little…!" Oh. Yosuke, you snapped out of it?

"This can't keep going on! My home here will be a complete mess! And then… and then… I… Waaaaah…" Is he actually crying? Are those tears coming from the costume?

"Geez this is annoying…" Yosuke sighed. "Hey, what should we do?"

What? Suddenly I remember something a "friend" said. Something about a strange mystery will be imposed on me…? I shook my head to clear it.

"I promise you that we'll find the person who's been throwing people in here."

"Th-thank you!"

"By the way, I'm Yu Narukami."

I elbowed Yosuke. "Alright. I'm Yosuke Hanamura. You got a name?"

"… Teddie."

"Heh, figures… But how are we supposed to find the culprit in the first place?" Good question.

"I dunno… But I know where the last person came in." Huh. Guess Yosuke was right. My mistake.

"The last person…? You mean Saki-senpai!?" Yosuke's mood brightened a little.

"I mean the person who came in and disappeared last time. I dunno the name. I'll take you there. You might find clues. Oh! One more thing first. You two should put these on." Teddie pulled two pairs of glasses from his… somewhere and gave them to us.

"What're these glasses for…?" Yosuke asked. As he put them on, his eyes behind the lenses went wide. "Woah! The difference is like night and day. With these on, it's like the fog doesn't exist."

I put my pair on and… Yosuke was right. Though the fog was still there. But I could see probably thirty feet in front of me. "Where did you get these?"

"I made them myself! I told you, I'm a beary capable bear!" I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that. "You can rely on me! Using these, you're be able to walk through the fog just fine." Teddie explained. "I can show you where the place is but you guys will have to defend yourselves."

"What happened to relying on you!? Th-There better not be any monsters! You understand!" Note to self, Yosuke gets angry when he's scared. "We brought weapons, but I mean… They're just for show!" Oh really? I thought that golf club could become a machine gun or something.

"Uh uh. No way. I've got no muscles. Oh! Oh! I'll give you guys moral support from a safe distance!" Teddie smiled. He really thought that was actually good enough.

I disagreed in a form of a punch to his face.

… Okay. I didn't punch him that hard to make this happen. "N-Noooooo…." He was on the ground. Wriggling all over the place. Guess he wasn't lying… well now he was… Sorry…

"Ugh, this is so lame…" Can't blame you for thinking that. "We swore to find the culprit and this is all the backup we get?"

"It doesn't matter." I answered. "Let's pick him back up and start investigating."

…

* * *

"What is this place? It looks just like the shopping district…"

Yosuke's observation wasn't wrong. I've only been in Inaba for a couple days, and even I recognize it. Except foggier… and more creepy.

"Some weird places have appeared here recently." Teddie explained to us. "Things are getting so tangled, I dunno what to do…"

"Uh… By the way, why are you standing so far from us?" Yosuke asked him. "You better not be planning to hightail it if something comes up!"

"O-Of course not! I mean. Uh. I can't stand too close, you know. I'd get in your way…" Liar.

Yosuke seemed like he doubted Teddie as well, but choose to ignore it. "Man, they really went all out on this… but out of all the places in town, why'd they replicate this one?"

"How should I know?" Teddie whined. "This is reality for the one who's here."

Yosuke sighed. "As usual, nothing you say makes sense… wait." Yosuke realized something. "If this is our shopping district, we're not far from Saki-senpai's…" He trailed off and ran on ahead, leaving me and Teddie in confusion.

"Well, we got no choice but to follow him."

We caught up to him and the end of the shopping district. We were in front of an entrance that looked exactly like the one in that creepy hotel room.

"I knew it! This is the liquor store that Senpai's parents run. Does this mean… Senpai disappeared here?"

"That door gives us enough confirmation. Yamano had a similar door as well."

All of a sudden Teddie yelled out in distress. "W-Wait a second. Th-They're here!"

"Huh?" Me and Yosuke turned around at the same time.

"Shadows! I had a feeling they were going to attack!"

"What are you talking abo-" My question died as I sensed movement from behind me.

Black goo came slithering out with a blue mask somehow attached to them. Yosuke fell down, paralyzed in fear.

Shadows… That's what Teddie called them. They looked at me. With no hesitation, they went straight for me, completely ignoring Yosuke as they passed him. The goo began to rise in the air and changed shape. The goo gather molded itself into a spherical shape, with the masks staring at me from the back. They began to change color, now having a pink and black stripe pattern. Still floating, it flipped over, revealing the front of itself. A mouth with a demonic tongue sticking out from it, aligned by human-like teeth.

Shadows are strange.

 **-I art thou-**

That voice!

 **-Thou art I-**

The voice is much more gently now. Still gives me a small headache though.

 **-The time has come. Open thine eyes. Call forth what is within!-**

I did what the voice asked. What appeared in my hand was a blank card. Wait, no. It felt like something was there but at the same time it wasn't. A bright light shined from the card and just like that, I knew what to do.

"Per…"

One word.

"So…"

That brings so much power to one's soul.

"…na!"

As I uttered the last syllable, blue flames ignited from the card. It didn't burn. It wasn't even warm, which made things a lot easier.

I crushed the card. I can only describe the feeling as relief as the power that flowed through and out of my body. The feeling of pressure that power inflicted made me scream out in pain, but I held firm. I had to go through this.

As the pressure receded, I knew what was behind me. My Persona.

Izanagi.

I leaned the golf club over my shoulders. A wicked grin spread across my face.

Shadows… huh? …Bring it on.

I rushed forward to the nearest shadow, instinctively dodging as a tongue sliced through the air, barely missing my face by inches. I spun around and swung the club as hard as my untrained hands could and struck the thing in the mouth. It's teeth shattered on impact.

Haha… I feel so light… Another grin spread across my face.

"Watch out! It's attacking from the right!" Teddie shouted a warning. I quickly dodged to the left, as the shadow's buddy tried to back it up. So we're teaming up? Nice.

"Yo, Teddie? You got any ideas?" I asked.

"Shadows have weaknesses! Just try different things and see what happens!" Was the high-pitched voice I got as a reply.

Weaknesses, eh. Alright then. I lifted my hand into the air as the card floated down onto my palm. I crushed it as it broke into blue glass. I randomly choose a skill since I didn't know what they were. What the hell language is "zio" anyways?

… I guess it meant electricity. It dropped a lightning bolt unto the Shadow, knocking it straight to the ground. Guess they didn't like it.

"Their weakness it electricity! Zap it!"

I summoned the skill again, and struck the other Shadow's buddy. It didn't fall on the ground, instead it exploded, splashing the surroundings with a weird black, foul spelling liquid.

The other Shadow thought I was distracted, so it lunged toward me. I sighed and swung the golf club, connecting with the back of it's head, shattering the mask on it's back. It exploded just like the other one, covering the ground with it's black liquid.

I summoned Izanagi again to get a look at it. It was humanoid in shape, but not exactly human. His lower half of his legs comprised of blades. The legs weren't near as impressive as his fifteen-foot naginata in his right hand. Even if you took the pole away, it was still a katana. He wore a dark-colored coat. His face was covered by a white mask, long ribbons flowed in the air from it. Yellow eyes pierced through the mask.

All in all his aura definitely read: _If you mess with me, I'm going to destroy you._

I like it.

I turned to look at Teddie and Yosuke to make sure if they were are right. Strangely, Yosuke was already in front of me with a huge grin on his face.

"Whoa… We-What was that!? Did I hear you say 'Persona'!? What was it- I mean, what did you do!?"

"Well, I-"

"Hey, you think I can do it too?"

Teddie waddled to us, interrupting Yosuke's excited babble. "Calm down, Yosuke. You're troubling Sensei!" What.

"S-Sensei…?" Yosuke asked, puzzled.

Teddie completely ignored him. "Gosh almighty! You're amazing, Sensei! I am one impressed bear! I can't believe you were hiding such an amazing power! No wonder the Shadows were scared of you! Did you already face yourself?"

That's a good point. The Shadows went straight passed Yosuke and went to me. Why was that? … Did they know somehow?

I was snapped out of my thoughts as Yosuke pushed Teddie, causing him to roll back and forth and land back on his feet. How does he do that? "Dude, you call him 'Sensei' and then don't show me any respect?"

Teddie looked down. "Sorry…"

Yosuke actually looked guilty after that. "W-Well your support wasn't bad, though. I gotta give you some credit for that."

"Huh? R-Really…? Heehee." Ah, flattery. Best way to apologize when you actually don't want to apologize.

"All right, you too keep it up, and I think we're be fine from here on out. Now let's get back to the investigation!" Yosuke led us back toward the strange portal to the entrance of the liquor shop. But before we walked through, we started to hear strange disembodied voices.

Can I just have one day without strange voices talking to me? Just one?

Most of the voices was bad-mouthing Junes, blaming it all for the problems of Inaba.

Then the voices got more specific. They started to talk about Saki as if she was a traitorous scum for working at Junes. Understandably, Yosuke wasn't taking it too well. "Hey… Hey, Ted! You said that this place was reality for those that are here, right!? So… does that mean this was Senpai's reality when she wandered in here?"

…Oh.

"I… only know about what's over here." Teddie said apologetically.

"Fine… Whatever's going on here… We'll find out ourselves!"

I decided to stay quiet as we went through the portal.

This wasn't going to be good.

…


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Yosuke Hanamura**

Through the portal was exactly what you'd expect a liquor store would look like. The selves were lined by bottles with different brands, and spooky voices.

No liquor store is complete without spooky voices.

Actually, it was one voice. And Yosuke quickly found out who it was. "I-Is this… Senpai's dad?"

" _You know what the neighbors say about you, right!? Aren't you ashamed of yourself? You're the eldest daughter of a family who's owned this store for generations! Is it the money? Or did you meet some guy there? Just tell me why you have to work THERE, of all places!"_

"I… I can't believe this. She seemed like she had fun at work… She never said anything like this to me… You're telling me THIS was how Senpai saw things!?"

Just stay quiet. Nothing I say will make things easier.

Yosuke noticed something and ran forward to a counter. "These photos… Hey… Is this…? This is the photo we took the other day with the other part-timers at Junes. But why is it cut up like this?" I looked over Yosuke's shoulder, seeing the photo of him and Saki smiling.

Saki's eyes did not match her other expressions.

" _I… never had the chance to say it…"_ Well, I wasn't expecting this.

"I-Is that… Senpai's voice!?" Yes it is. Now you can finally hear it.

" _I always wanted to tell Hana-chan…"_

"Huh? Me…?" This is gonna suck.

"… _That he was a real pain in the ass."_

Harsh.

" _I was nice to him just because he was the store manager's son, that's all. But he takes it completely the wrong way and gets all enthusiastic… What a dip."_

Harsher than I thought…

"P-Pain in the ass…?"

" _Who cares about Junes, anyway? Because of that store, our business is ruined, my parents hate me, the neighbors talk behind my back… I wish everything would just disappear."_

"I-It's a lie." Nope. "This can't be." It is.

I starter to shudder. Is it getting cold in here?

"Senpai's not like that!" Yosuke shouted at the ceiling.

Yosuke's yelling got interrupted by… Yosuke? " **It's so sad… I feel so sorry for myself. Boo hoo!** "

We both turned around to see another Yosuke leaning against the back wall, though this one had yellow eyes.

And a creepier voice. " **Actually, I'm the one who thinks everything's a pain in the ass. Hahaha!** "

"Huh? Two Yosukes?" Teddie shared my confusion.

Yosuke ran toward his shadow as I whispered to Teddie. "Teddie, what hell is going on?"

"This is beary bad! That's Yosuke's Shadow!"

"What?"

Yosuke's argument with his Shadow continue. "Who are you! I-I wouldn't think that…"

" **Hahaha… Yeah, right. How long are you going to keep deluding yourself? Screw the shopping district, and Junes too! You're sick of everything, especially living out in the sticks!** "

"What're you saying…? That's not true, I-."

" **You put on a good show of being carefree and happy-go-lucky 'cause you're so terrified of being along. The more the merrier, right? You're gotta be surrounded by people to block out the pain of isolation… and than he showed up.** "

Why's it looking at me? " **A new transfer student from the big city, America even. He was interesting, he took the spotlight, because why not? Hitting him felt good, right? He deserved it.**

"S-Shut up!"

" **And what's this about checking out this world for Saki-senpai's sake? Hah! I know the real reason you came snooping.** "

"Stop it!"

" **Why so panicked? I thought I was spouting bullshit! Or maybe… I DO know everything you're thinking! Why's that…? Because I AM you!** "

"We need to stop this before it goes bearserk!" Teddie warned me.

"I don't think he'll even listen to us at the moment."

"…"

" **You just came because you thought it sounded like a good time! What else is there to do in this shithole? A world inside a TV… now that's exciting! You didn't have a single other reason for coming here, did you!?** "

"That's not true.. Stop… Stop it…"

" **You're just trying to act like a big shot… If all went well, hey, maybe you could become a hero! And that Senpai you were so sweet on? Her death was the perfect excuse!** "

Yosuke completely lost it. "That's not true! What at you!? Who are you!?"

The Shadow laughed. " **I already told ya. I'm you… Your Shadow… There's nothing I don't know about you!"**

"Screw that! I don't know you!" Yosuke started to scream at the Shadow. "YOU CAN'T BE ME, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

All went silent for a second. Then the Shadow started to laugh again, a chuckle, then a mad cackle. " **Hahaha! That's right! Say it again!"**

"Y-You're not me… You're nothing like me!"

" **Hmhmhm. Yeah, that's right. I am me now! I'm not you anymore, see?"**

The shadow began to glow brightly as black miasma started to flow toward it. No one could see what was happening, except Yosuke, the real one, fall to the ground.

Eventually the lights faded and I could see now that Yosuke's Shadow definitely didn't look the same. It looked like a ten-foot tall man with rubber gloves on, riding a gigantic frog.

I wish I was making this stuff up.

"So… this thing is going to try to kill us?"

"Uh-huh."

"So I should fight it?"

"Uh-huh."

I let out a sigh and slung the golf club onto my shoulder. "Awesome."

" **I am a shadow… The true self… I'll crush everything that bores me… Starting with you!** "

It reared up on it's hind legs and slammed down unto the ground, creating a shockwave. I lost my balance and fell backwards. The thing didn't waste anything trying to stomp on me. I rolled to the left, possible dodging a fatal injury.

That was a bad idea. I rolled straight under the huge thing. It roared and kicked me out from under him, trying to defend it's weak underbelly. " **How long can you survive this!?"** It asked.

I sat up with a groan. Damn, that hurt. "So… You're Yosuke's Shadow? So does that mean you're the one who punched me. Twice?"

" **Haha. Yeah, good times."**

"That's good." I pointed the club at him. "I never got to pay him back for that. Well, guess you're good as any, aren't you're lucky?"

My side really aches right now. Maybe a skill will work on it? I looked up at the Shadow and smirked. "You know I let Yosuke punch me, right? Let me show you what I can really do!" Zio better work on him, or that whole speech was for nothing.

…Apparently it did. The bolt of lightning struck it head on, making it's legs flop downward. It made them stop moving. Let's try… Cleave? That sounds pretty awesome.

I summoned Izanagi's card and crushed it. He came out from me, and swung his naginata, slicing the Shadow's stomach. Black ichor came spraying from the cut.

That works… how about… Rakukaja?

It did absolutely nothing. Awesome.

"Sensei! That made you tougher! Allowing you to take hits better!"

"Really? That's usef-"

My words got cut off as the shadow recovered and slammed it's fist into me, knocking me into the air.

Eh? Teddie was right. I barely felt that hit. Alright! "Izanagi, Zio!" I summoned as I fell to the ground and slid on the tiled floor. Zio blasted it back unto the floor. Well if that works… I unleased zios in quick succession.

"Sensei watch out! Your spiritual power is almost depleted!"

Huh? I tried casting zio again.

Uh-oh.

" **Heh, that's it? Boring!"** The Shadow taunted. It was a bluff. I saw what those electric attacks did to it. Still, now I can't do them anymore. This is gonna get complicated.

"Shit!" The Shadow was rearing his body as it did a ninjutsu symbol with it's hands. I dove behind a counter where Teddie's been hiding.

"This is beary bad!"

"I've noticed." I need a plan. This golf club is near useless on him. My Persona attacks will work, but I can't cast zio… and there's a bunch of bottles…

…Liquor bottles.

"Teddie, I have a plan."

"I knew you would think of something Sensei!"

"Yeah! Start gathering some of the bottles up for me."

"Huh? Why me?" Teddie gave me a puzzled look.

"Because I'll be distracting this thing. When I do, I want you to toss as many bottle as you can at him."

"O-Okay…"Teddie started to pull some of the bottles from the casings.

I looked over my shoulder to see the Shadow slowly walking toward us, in a taunting manner. Okay, show time. I leapt over from behind the counter, holding the club out and rushed it.

Concentrate! Summoning Izanagi, I ordered a cleave attack on it's backside as it sliced through it, I jumped up and grabbed unto it's body.

"Now Teddie!"

"Alright Sensei!" Teddie yelled, flinging as many bottles as he could, letting them smash all over the ground and his body.

The shadow roared in pain as the glass cut into it's body. It's thrashing launched me into the air, just like I wanted it to do.

"You're finished." With a devilish grin, I pulled a lighter from my pocket, lit it, and dropped it right onto the liquor soaked Shadow and ground. It instantly ignited into flames, burning everything the liquid touched.

The Shadow screamed in intense pain.

Ha, well that was easy. I'm glad that uncle had a few lighters in the… eh?

The Shadow summoned a huge gale of wind, blowing all the flames out. But it just stood their sizzling, and twitching uncontrollably. " **D-Damn you to hell…"**

This thing is still standing? "IZANAGI!" I ordered another flurry of cleave attacks.

Finally, it succumbed to the cuts and burns on it's body. With a scream, the frog and it's rider dissipated into the same ichor the other Shadow had before.

I felt a surge as I tried to catch my breath. It didn't help. However, I could sense that Izanagi got a new skill, Rakunda. Don't know what it does, but I'll find out eventually.

I sat down on the floor, careful not to sit on any of the broken glass. That fight took a lot out of me. All of my spiritual power as Teddie called it, but those cleave attacks still worked so I guess they run on something different. The way I feel right now, it probably ran on my physical power.

Teddie ran over to Yosuke- the real Yosuke- as he was still lying on the ground.

I looked down at my hand and noticed I had burn marks down my arm …If I hadn't used that plan, Yosuke would have been killed. It was necessary, but I should be more careful in the future.

I won't let anyone die here anymore.

He started to groggily stand back up. "Yosuke, are you okay?" Teddie asked, concerned.

"Y-Yeah. What happened?"

"Your Shadow went berserk. It tried to kill us. I barely took care of it." I answered, still sitting on the floor. I looked up and noticed that Yosuke's Shadow was standing there, back to looking normal.

…I think I need a drink… Now I'm sounding like uncle.

"You… You're… not me…" Yosuke told it.

"That thing came from you, Yosuke… You have to admit it… or it'll go bearserk again…" Next person who says that is going to be punted to the moon with my golf club.

"That thing is you." I interjected. "You wanted to play hero and you hated me at least when I got here." Yosuke looked like he was gonna protest. "But a hero is someone who steps forward and does something, regardless the motivation. I know that you hated me somewhat… but you never acted on it… What I'm trying to say that you're more than what your Shadow said."

"Dammit… It hurts to face yourself. I knew it wasn't lying… But I was so ashamed that I didn't want to admit it." Yosuke turned to his Shadow. "You're me… and I'm you. When you get down to it, all of this is me."

The Shadow nodded and fades away. The instant it did, another figure took it's place, floating above where the Shadow once stood. It looked like the rider but without it's frog. But it was dressed in what looked like a white disco outfit with a red scarf tied around it's neck. Somehow I knew it's name.

Jiraiya, his Persona.

"…This is my Persona." Yosuke sat down next to me. He looked about tired as I was. "When we heard Senpai's voice, I wonder if that was something Senpai had been keeping down deep inside. Heh. 'He was a real pain in the ass,' huh? What a way to find out… Geez this is so embarrassing."

I nodded to him. Didn't know what else to say.

He turned to me. "If you weren't here, I don't know what woulda happened. Thanks, Yu."

"No problem." I chuckled. "Though it wasn't all me. Did you see Teddie lobbing those bottles like hand grenades?"

"Teddie is always here for help." Teddie replied in third-person.

"Yeah." I continued. "We're all in this together. All of us will fight our personal demons. Just promise me next time, you're help."

"…Heh. You got it partner!"

…

* * *

Teddie led the way back to the entrance, as me and Yosuke followed. Out of no where, Yosuke decided to ask something.

"Hey, Ted. Could Senpai have been attacked by her other self here?"

"The Shadow here were originally born from humans. Sometimes the fog clears. Then they all go bear-"

"DO NOT SAY IT!" yelled.

"…They all go crazy. And you know what happens next. A strong-willed Shadow draws others to it. And the big mass of Shadows kills the host."

"So that's why people die when it gets foggy in our world…" Yosuke said.

I decided to ask my own question. "Teddie. How do you know that when the fog lifts here, it gets foggy in my world?"

"Huh?" Both Yosuke and Teddie asked.

"Well, how would you know that? You've never been to my world, right?"

"… I don't know…" Teddie looked confused, as if he never thought of that before.

"Interesting… so you only remember being here, but you have knowledge from places you never been to?"

"I guess so?"

"Whatever. Problem for another time. When it comes to it, we're help you figure it out, right Yosuke?"

"Uh… sure, why not."

…

* * *

"So, did these places form because of Saki-senpai and Yamano-san being here?"

Yosuke and I were still asking Teddie about the rules of this place.

"It seems that way. I never sensed those places in till they showed up here."

"So Yamano-san and Saki-senpai was thrown in here, wandered around, and was attacked by the Shadows?" Yosuke asked.

"No. They weren't attacked by regular Shadows. They were attacked when the fog lifted. I guess that it was their own Shadows when they went b-" I glared at him. "Crazy."

"Wait." I finally decided to say something. "Are you saying that if someone is thrown in here, we can save them before they disappear?"

"Maybe. The Shadows attacked us probably because they don't like people investigating in here. They should be safe here, as long as the fog is up."

"Awesome." I turned to Yosuke. "While we're trying to figure who's been doing all this, we can stop them from killing anyone else."

"Dammit. That means that if I went here along, I would've been in much deeper trouble. Senpai and Yamano-san were all along stuck in here. We need to make sure this never happens again!" Yosuke said, with determination in his eyes. Guess being a hero was an actually thing.

We finally made it back to the entrance. Man, even walking is exhausting. I need to stop by the Junes foot court and get me something to eat.

"Okay, I'll let you out now. I'll be waiting for you guys here. But remember, you need to come in from the same place every time. So we can meet up. You could come in from somewhere else. But then you won't end up here. You might show up somewhere I couldn't get to you. Then you'd be dooooomed…" Teddie warned. "Got it!?"

"Got it. We're be back when something comes up."

"Alright, can you show us the way out?" Yosuke asked, clearly wanting to leave.

"Roger that! One exit comin' right up!" He stomped his foot and the piles of TV appeared, just like last time.

"Cool. First we need to make sure there aren't any employees milling around out there…"

"Okay! Go go go! Squiiiish!" Teddie shoved up through the TV, again, just like last time.

I'm gonna beat him over the head the next time I see him.

…


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Questions and the Velvet Room.**

Chie wears shorts underneath her skirt. This is disappointing.

"Ahh!" She squealed, teary-eyed. "Y-You guys came baaack!"

"Huh? Chie? Woah, what's the long face?"

I whispered to Yosuke from the floor. "The rope snapped you moron. She's been waiting here thinking we had no way back."

As to confirm what I just said, Chie threw the rope at Yosuke. He was tired from earlier though, so the force knocked him on his ass.

"The nerve of you guys! You are such morons! I can't believe this! You guys suck! The rope got cut off… I had no idea what to do… I w-was so w-worried… I mean scared stiff, dammit! I hate you both!" Chie ran off as soon as she stopped yelling.

Yosuke groggily got to his feet. "I… I think that mighta kinda sorta been our fault."

"You think? It was our fault." I replied, still on the floor." I'll get up when I'm good and ready, thank you.

"Maybe we did go a little too far… Let's apologize to her tomorrow. I'm completely wiped out… I'm gonna go home, soak in the shower for a while, and get some sleep." More details than I needed, but whatever. "I think… I'm gonna sleep well tonight. Hehe… Well, see you in the morning." He walked off, not even trying to help me up. I guess to be fair, he probably couldn't with the condition he was in.

"See ya."

… Lying on the floor of the department store, smelling like booze, and being underage, yeah, this'll end nicely.

I got to my feet using the frame of the TV as support. Okay. Standing.

Now I gotta initiate my plan. One. Get food to get my strength back. Two. Get home as fast as possible and wash my uniform before uncle can smell the alcohol.

…

* * *

I got halfway through stage two, before I hit a snag. As I was walking through the flood plain, Yukiko spotted me from a nearby picnic table. Priestess.

… Ignoring her would be rude. It was… still only around six, so uncle wouldn't be back in a hour or two. Actually, I would be surprised if he even came back tonight. Screw it.

"Hey." I greeted as I walked over to her. We chatted for a few minutes. Why was she wearing a Kimono?

She most have noticed me staring, because she blushed and explained. "Oh… Are you surprised to see me dressed this way? My parents sent me out on an errand." Before expertly changing the subject. "Um… Are you getting used to your school?"

I answered honestly. "I don't know." I haven't really been aware of school from these last two days.

She smiled. "It must be difficult, moving to a place you know nothing about. I've never been out of Inaba, so I wouldn't know what it's like to transfer to a new school."

"You get used to it, if it happens enough. Show up, awkwardly introduce yourself, try to make new friends, abandon those friends, move to a new house, repeat." Way to much honesty. Change the subject.

"Oh! Are you getting along with Chie?" Oh? You're changing the subject for me? How considerate. "I mean, I always leave early, so… Umm…"

… Lie. "We're getting along." She was mostly yelling at Yosuke anyways, right?

Her smile brightened even more. "I'm glad to hear that. Chie's very supportive, you know. It's always her who gives me the little extra push I need. We had homeroom together last year too, and I still remember how we'd cut class sometime…"

Yukiko cut short her reminiscing, saying that she had to go to make arrangements with her inn. She must be pretty busy if she said, 'Her inn couldn't function without her.'

We said our goodbyes and headed our separate directions.

Please don't be home… please don't be home…

…

* * *

No car in the drive way! YES! I'm safe!

"Welcome home." Nanako greeted as I walked in, before her face scrunched up. "You smell bad…" Well said, Nanako. Justice.

I'm surprised that she noticed but not Yukiko.

… Actually, she probably _Did_ notice. That girl is just too nice. "I'm gonna go take a bath. You need to get into the bathroom before I do?"

"No, it's fine." She grumbled, her face still scrunched.

I ran up the stairs and headed straight to the bathroom. After forty minutes, I was clean, my uniform was sprayed with air-freshner and thrown into the wash.

Dunno if that would fool anyone though.

I sat down next to Nanako at the table with a fresh new pair of clothes on. The only thing that was said was a dejected. "Dad's late."

We watched the news together again. Unsurprising, it showed info about the murders. The only thing to note was:

" _The coroner's report has established Ms. Konishi's time of death at around 1:00 A.M. last night."_

Her death was shown on the Midnight Channel, so the time difference was correct. Strange how it seems convenient.

"Another incident… Dad won't be coming home tonight."

"I'll be here with you though." I gave her a reassuring smile.

"I'll be okay. Can you help me do some stuff around the house?"

"Sure."

" _Amagi Inn, located upstream of Samegawa River, is the town's oldest historical landmark."_ Hmm? They're doing a piece on Yukiko's Inn? Funny, that I just talked to her.

" _Vacationers are known to travel surprising distances in order to visit its open-air, radium-rich hot springs. After the incident with Ms. Yamano, the manager has stepped aside, leaving her daughter Yukiko to fill her shoes. In other words, she's a manager who's still in high school."_

Yukiko was shown on the TV waiting at a bus stop. Wait a second… Wasn't that the same reporter who interviewed…

" _Let's see if we can interview her. Excuse me!"_

Oh no.

" _Hm…? Um… Are you speaking to me?"_

" _We heard that you're the new manager. Is it true you're still in high school?"_

Yukiko… Run!

" _Oh, well. I'm only filling in temporarily…"_

" _Someday, though… That aside, wow! You're looking gorgeous in that kimono. You must have had a lot of male visitors."_

Run fast!

" _Huh? No, um…"_

"… This is boring."

Not the word I would've used but I agree on not watching anymore.

I helped Nanako with the chores around the house. I'm just a nice guy like that. No ulterior motives at all.

I was upstairs by ten. I spent a long time lying on my bed, trying to process what happened from the past few days. Everything seems like its happening so fast, that it's hard to keep track of it all.

So there's a TV world that warps to match the mind of others who go there. If you stay too long, the fog clears and monsters called Shadows, the parts of human personality that people hate, to manifest and kill them. Then there's Persona, a person's Shadow that people accept as a part of themselves. Except for mine for some reason. Maybe because I'm so open about things? And of course there's a magical bear that lives in that TV world.

… Or I'm going insane.

Whatever. I'm just going to roll with it. Besides, my Persona… it gave me something… That I wanted for a long time.

Midnight. Might as well watch the Midnight Channel. It is raining after all.

I walked over to the TV as an image started to form on the screen. However, this time was different. Last time the image switched from being clear and full of static. This time it was super blurry. I could barely make out anything. There's barely any color either.

A Woman. Dark hair. Wearing a kimono.

… Nah. I bet every woman in Inaba owns a kimono. It would be foolish to think it was Yukiko.

Yosuke'll watch this as well. Time for some much needed and deserved rest.

…

* * *

"Welcome."

… Blue. Creepy but fitting music. Weird nose-man. Bored looking girl. I know these people.

"This again?"

Nose-man, what was his name again? chuckled. "It seems you remember your first visit with us. Do not be alarmed. You are fast asleep in the real world. I have summoned you within your dreams."

IGOR! Igor, that was it. The Velvet Room. And… Mar… something.

"Thanks, I guess. This is a… nice place you got here?"

"This is a space that only those who have, in one way or another, entered into a contract may enter." Mar… you know what. I'm going to call her Marmalade for right now. "In your daily life, you subconsciously heard the call to awaken, and you chose to follow the destiny of your inner voice. Thereby enacting your glorious awakening to your power." Yes. Your monotone almost makes it sound absolutely thrilling.

Waaaaait a minute. You guys know what's going on?

Igor just kept smiling his all-knowing grin. Guess he won't tell me what's going on yet. Great. "Hold on to this." He told me.

A blue key appeared in front of me out of nowhere and floated down into my hand.

"From this night forth, you are our guest in this Velvet Room. Your destiny will require you to hone your power, and for that, you will inevitably require our help."

"Awesome. I appreciate it. So what kind of help are we talking about here?"

"We will discuss that in due time. For now, understand that there is but one price for this assistance. You must abide by your contract and assume responsibility for all decisions you may make."

I hope by 'contract' he meant the promise I made with Teddie. Other than that, I have no idea what he's talking about. "So, you're help me if I keep my promise and take responsibility? That's easy. I don't take my promises lightly. Plus, I've been taking responsibility of all my actions through my whole life."

"Very well." That was an unnerving smile. "The Persona you have acquired. It is a side of you that shows itself when you face the world around you. Perhaps you can think of it as, a façade of determination you wear to face various difficulties in life."

Persona. So it's like that one guy who researched on them. Can't remember his name… stupid psychology class...

"Your Persona ability, however, is that of the wild card… Compared to that of others, it is very special. It is like the number zero… empty, yet holding infinite potential within itself."

"About this wild card. Does it make me sense something in people? For me I think of Fool, and my friends as Magician and Chariot. Why is that?

"Hmhmhm. You are a Fool. That is all I will tell you."

"Okay, okay fine! Keep on being cryptic."

His grin spread wider… Guess I should google it. "The Persona ability is the power to control one's heart. And the heart is strengthened through bonds. As you form bonds by becoming involved with others, your own Social Links will gradually develop. The power of these Social Links is what will determine your Persona's abilities."

… What? "You've lost me again. So… My Persona gets stronger when I make _friends_?"

Marmalade spoke up again. "Social Links are necessary for more than strengthening your Persona. At times, they will help light the way to the truth you are searching for."

Okay then. So I got to make friends with a bunch of people, hoping one of them is the killer? And with all their power I can beat the killer down?

… Makes sense, right?

"Where will your awakened power of the wild card take you? I look forward to traveling the road of your destiny together." Igor began to chuckle again. "'Til we meet again…"

My view of the Velvet Room started to fade.

Persona. Shadows. Fool.

Time to get some answers.

…

* * *

Going to school on a Saturday… thank you very much Japan… anyways.

Carl Jung. Yeah that was his name. I bet he knew a man with a long nose.

I spent my time before school in my room, researching everything about a Persona. Carl Jung described it the same way as Igor did: a façade for dealing with life's hardships. He also spoke of something called a 'Fool's Journey' which was a basic outline of a person's life, using the major arcana of a tarot deck as the stages of life.

The Fool was the number zero in the major arcana.

This is all finally making sense. About time something did. So, everyone has a arcana corresponding to them. I have a feeling that this will be important very soon.

…

* * *

I was on my way to school when "Yo, Narukami!" Yosuke showed up on his bike.

"Hey Yosuke. It all finally makes sense… sort of." He gave me a puzzled look. "Uhhh… I'll explain later."

"… Okay? A-Anyways, you saw what was on last night, right?"

"Yeah. Woman in a kimono. It wasn't just me that thought it was blurry this time, right?" I asked.

"No, you're right. I couldn't tell who it was either, but if someone's shown up on TV, we can't ignore it. Let's go check it out after school. Maybe Teddie can tell us something."

"Yeah, that's true. Have you checked the weather forecast?"

"None. It's safe for a while." He paused, looking sullen. "If it turns to someone was thrown in again, there really might be a culprit behind all this. Even if it is something about that place that's killing the victims… If someone's using that world as a weapon, that's unforgivable." His face flashed anger. "We need to find the culprit… no matter what it takes!"

He's… really angry. "Yosuke, don't turn this into a personal thing. We're helping because no one else can, remember? We're all in this together."

"… Yeah, you're right. Hehe. It's reassuring to hear someone else say it." He shook off his irritated expression. "You know, I tried sticking my head in the TV last night, the way you did, and it actually worked. I think I can do that now because I have the same power. Persona, wasn't it? Could be that we got this gift from someone specifically so we could solve the case."

"Thou art the one who opens the door…" I mumbled to myself. Yosuke gave me a curious look. "It's nothing."

"Okay… You know, I feel like, as long as you're with me, I can find the culprit and crack this case. Well… Let's do our best!" he grinned and offered his hand.

I took it. As soon as I did, time somehow stopped.

 **SMASH!**

The hell?

A card appeared in front of me. On it showed a pair of hands conjuring up a flame.

 _Thou art I and I am thou… Thou hast established a new bond…_

 _It brings thee closer to the truth…_

 _Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Magician Arcana…_

The card vanished and everything appeared to go back to normal. Yosuke was staring at me oddly again.

I hope that creepy voice doesn't happen every time I make a new friend or it'll get annoying real fast. Also annoying is that I don't know how this is making me stronger.

… And how long have I been holding Yosuke's hand?

I let go as quickly as possible. "Anyways, let's get to school before we're late."

…

* * *

Yosuke and I was waiting in the classroom when Chie rushed in, looked panicked. She immediately ran over to us. "Uh… Chie." Yosuke began to say. "Um… About yesterday… We're sorry we worried you…" He said with as much guilt he could add as possible. He was just trying not get another nut-shot.

… Not that I blame him.

"Never mind that. Is Yukiko still not here?" Chie sounded as nervous as she looked.

"Huh? Yukiko-san? Uh… no? At least, I haven't seen her today."

"Oh man… What should I do…? Hey, is that stuff you were talking about for real?"

I looked at Yosuke questionably. "I called her and explained everything to her." He answered my unasked question.

I answered for Chie. "If you mean by the Personas, Shadows, and people getting thrown in the TV, yes, it's all for real."

"Actually, we were just talking about that. We're thinking of checking it out later."

"The person on TV yesterday… I think it was Yukiko." Chie admitted, trying to look calm

Hooray for jumping to conclusions. "Okay, besides the fact that the woman on the TV was wearing a kimono, and probably most women in this town owns one, why do you think it was Yukiko?"

"Well, that kimono looked like the one she wears at the inn! And she wore it during that interview a few day ago too!"

"A few days ago?" I asked.

"Yeah! Didn't you watch it last night?"

I tried to explain. "No, I mean that interview was filmed a few days ago? And was shown last night? So you mean that train wreck of an interview wasn't spur-of-the-moment? Someone showed that video to an editor, who presumably knows what he's doing, and he says that it should be shown to the public? What kind of person runs this Shi-"

"That's not the issue here!" Chie interrupted.

"Damn well should be…" I grumbled. She gets annoyed at me when she's less focused on worrying about Yukiko.

Still, someone should be fired at that TV station.

"Look! I got worried, so I emailed her last night, but she hasn't responded… I called her earlier in the evening though, and she said she'd be at school today, I-I…" She trailed off.

"Calm down. We get the picture. And you still haven't heard from her?" Yosuke asked, doing a fine job as the supportive role.

"No…"

"Give her another call. We shouldn't jump to conclusions just because she didn't respond an email." I suggested.

"Y-you're right." Chie pulled out her phone and called Yukiko's number. So… She's Chariot…

…

"No good… Her voicemail picked up… S-She's not answering…" She whined.

"Woah, seriously? Then is Yukiko-san inside that place?" What the hell happened to being supportive, Yosuke?

"S-Stop it! Something must've come up, like an errand or something. Or she might be helping at the inn! She wouldn't be able to answered her phone if that's it!"

"Yeah, but w-" I stomped on Yosuke's foot to shut him up.

"I'll give the inn a call… Um... I've got the number here somewhere…" She tried to call the inn, mumbling 'Pick up' every now and again as she waited.

...

…

"Oh, is this Yukiko?" He placed her hand over the phone. "Thank god, she's there!" And released it again. "Uh-huh… Uh-huh, I see… Ah, uh, Nah. It was nothing, haha, I'll email you again later…" Chie closed her phone and looked back at us. "She was over at the inn." She confirmed with a smile on her face. "She said they had a big group reservation and she had to help out. Now that I think about it, this has happened before, too. At least once a year. She said that she'll be at the inn tomorrow too. For crying out loud, Yosuke! You got me worried over nothing! She was totally fine! And you were all, "Is Yukiko-san inside that place?" Hmph…"

Hehe. I got her mad. You got her madder. You're a good friend, Yosuke. "S-Sorry…" He apologized. "But there is a reason we thought that."

"Oh yeah? What?"

"Yeah, what?" I echoed. I honestly don't know what he was talking about.

"Well… we thought people show up on the Midnight Channel because they're already over in that world. I mean, it makes sense, right? People show up on TV because they're inside the TV."

"It bodes well that we're using toddler logic, but go on."

"But Yukiko-san's still here, in our world. We might want to see what this is about."

"… Let's check with Teddie after school if he sensed anyone in the TV world. If not, we can assume that it was Yukiko on the TV and decide how we'll deal with things."

…

* * *

After school, Yosuke, Chie, and I met up in the electronics department of Junes. I was in the middle of explaining yesterday's events with Chie when…

"Than I lit Yosuke's frog Shadow thing on fire and-"

"Okay, okay. That's enough of that." Yosuke interrupted my victory tale of badassery.

"If I hadn't seen the place first hand… I'd never have believed a story like that… or the whole lighting it on fire thing."

"Hey! I didn't say that I beat it along! Teddie helped but Yosuke interrupted before I could explain that!" I glared at Yosuke to show my displeasure. He just shrugged it off.

I will have vengeance.

" _Anyways,_ we need to know what's going on inside."

"… Alright, cover me." I told Yosuke.

"Huh?"

"Block these customer's view of the TV so I can talk to Teddie." I explained, while inclining my head toward the customers near us.

"Oh, right. Chie stand over here and make a wall with me." Yosuke whispered, understanding my meaning.

As soon as Yosuke and Chie was in place, I stuck my hand inside the TV and made a beckoning motion with my hand to get Teddie's attention.

"OW YOU SON OF…!" The little bastard bit me. I put my glasses on and stuck my head into the TV, coming face to face to a smiling Teddie.

"Ooh ooh, is this a game?" He asked, oblivious.

"You bit me!"

"Soooo it's not a game?"

"No! Look, is there anyone else in this world right now?" I asked, resisting the urge to punch him in the face.

"Who's 'anyone?' I'm just a lonely little bear like always. This land feels so… bear-REN. Hee hee!"

I pulled my head out of the TV and looked at Yosuke. "I'm gonna kill him. If he makes one more damned bear pun, I will kill him."

"Focus! We need to know if anyone's in there or not."

"I already asked. Teddie said that there's no one in there except him." I put my head back in. "Thanks." I told Teddie. "Don't bite me again."

As I pulled my head back out, Yosuke and Chie was in the middle of a conversation. "So you walk with her to school on Monday, right?"

"Yeah. She'll be busy at the inn all weekend. So I'm sure she'll be safe."

"Good. We should all watch the Midnight Channel tonight to make sure." He turned to me. "Don't forget. Oh, what's your phone number? I'll call you when I watch it tonight."

"Sure." I opened my phone to save his number. "Do you know where the bandages are? That little bastard drew blood."

…

* * *

Dinner with Nanako was uneventful. Uncle never showed up, but that was expected. I spent the hours between dinnertime and midnight playing guitar and reading up on the Fool's Journey. By the time it was midnight, I had a firm understanding on it.

But no understanding on what the hell I was seeing right now.

" _Good eeeevening! Tonight, princess Yukiko has a big surprise!"_

" _I'm gonna score myself a hot stud!"_

Three words. What. The. Hell?

…

* * *

 **A/N: Not gonna lie, nothing that big happened in this chapter. But it's setting up for the Yukiko arc so awesome for that. More fights will be had and new 'abilities' will awaken. Not going to tell you what now though. It's going to be a surprise.**

 **Anyways, favorite, review and whatever.**

 **Dusk Emperor signing out.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Preparing for the Operation.**

" _Welcome to Not a Dream, Not a Hoax: Princess Yukiko's Hunt for her Prince Charming! And I came prepared!"_

Uhhh…

" _I've got my lacy unmentionables stacked from top to bottom!"_

Err…

" _I'm out to catch a whole harem and the best of the lot is gonna be all mine! Well… here I go!"_

... The image disappeared.

… My phone rang. I should probably pick it up… I answered it and put it to my ear.

"H-Hey, did you see that!?"

"Uhhh…" I nodded unconsciously. Was she grabbing her crotch…?

"That was Yukiko-san for sure! It looked like her… I mean, she even said her name!"

"Lacy…"

"But didn't the stuff she was saying sound weird? And she looked like she was on some low-budget TV show… Was it like this before, too?"

"Unmentionables…"

"Would you snap out of it and focus! This is serious dammit!"

I shook my head, trying to clear it. "Sorry, I'm good now."

"What's going on?"

"… Did she really just grab her crotch…?"

"YES, now FOCUS!"

"Sorry. Anyways, wasn't the picture clear now?" Yes, it was VERY clear.

"Yeah…"

"Whenever it's clear, it means that the person is already in the TV world. That means…"

"…Yukiko is in there now"

"Call Chie. She watched this as well. Reassure her. We will _not_ let this end like last time. I will make sure of that. And Yosuke?"

"Yeah?"

"Get yourself a weapon. We'll saving Yukiko tomorrow."

…

* * *

In the morning I sent Yosuke a email to meet up at the Junes food court at eleven. It's Sunday, so there's nothing stopping us today.

… Except a little girl sitting along in my house doing nothing but watching TV all day.

I approached Nanako as she did just that. "Oh, good morning." She greeted me.

"Where's your dad?"

"He left already. He said he's gonna be late."

"Of course he did." I grumbled. That's not fair. I'm leaving too. Probably for the exact same reason, actually.

"Are you going somewhere?"

"W-Well…"

"It's okay. I'll be fine by myself." She assured me, like it was the norm.

Steeling my resolve, I said. "See you later, Nanako." And left. I have to do this. No one else can save Yukiko.

… I'll still hate myself for it.

…

* * *

Eleven o clock and I was sitting in the Junes food court enjoying an egg sandwich I bought for breakfast.

I glanced ahead and saw Yosuke approaching from my right, with his hands behind his back.

"Sorry for the holdup." He apologized. "But I found some stuff we can use in the closet at my house." A grin spread across his face. "Take a look at these!"

With his probably rhetorical question, he whipped his hands from behind his back to reveal two swords: an aikuchi and a katana.

In a crowded food court.

With a murderer on the loose.

This will end well.

"Please put those down on the table slowly and carefully." I requested.

"Sure! Take a closer look! Pretty sweet, huh? I mean, we got our Persona, but a golf club's not that reliable as a weapon. So, which one strikes your fancy?"

I picked up a napkin and touched the edge of the katana.

… Nothing. "These are fake." I said just loud enough for people to hear and be assured, if only a little.

"Well, yeah. It's not like I actual have access to real swords. Plus, their still better than a golf club."

"Actually, no. Blades have the specific purpose of slashing things. A blade with a dull edge is pretty much swinging an iron stick around. A golf club, though it isn't an ideal weapon, is still a club. At best, their both at the same level of usefulness."

I guess I hurt his feelings. "Fine! Maybe I'll use both. How about that?" He picked up both of the fake swords and started to swing them wildly, trying to mimic a fighting pose. "Kinda like this!?"

Than I noticed the guy in the police uniform near the stairs. "Uhhh, Yosuke?"

"Or like this!?" He continued to swing around like a madman. Well, uncle, my friend is a compete moron.

"YOSUKE!" I hissed, pointing at the cop talking on his radio.

"Huh…? Ohhh crap, I mean…" He hid the weapons behind his back. "No… No no no no, this isn't what it looks like. We didn't steal it… Uh, I guess that's not what matters… A-Anyways, we're not doing anything bad! We're just two ordinary kids who like weapons and…"

"Yosuke, will you shut up? You're making things worse." I turned to the officer and tried to put on my best respectful tone I could manage. "We apologize for the disturbance, officer." Breathe. "The weapons aren't real. The blades are fake."

"Put the weapons down now! We'll listen to your story at the station. Hands where I can see them, too! I said now!" He demanded.

Then Yosuke did something stupid. Yosuke put his hands straight out in front of him, swords still in hand, no more than a foot away from the officer. "B-But… This isn't…" He started waving the swords back and forth. I'm assuming it was supposed to be a gesture meaning, 'no'.

"A-are you resisting an officer of the law!? You're under arrest!"

Two more officers approached us from behind.

God I hate the police…

…

* * *

"You didn't seem the type to pull a stupid stunt like this."

I know, right? It was almost like someone one was being really stupid and I got dragged into it. I would've have said it if Yosuke wouldn't hate me for it. But it's still the truth.

Uncle was lecturing me and Yosuke at the police station, after getting us out of trouble. Hmm… He's Hierophant.

"You know what's been going on around town. We got men stationed everywhere. For god's sake… You're lucky I was around, or this would have ended up on your permanent record."

"We're sorry…" You mean you're sorry. I didn't do anything.

Two officials were chatting as they walked past us in the hallway. Their conversation was way more interesting than uncle's lecture. "So the one that disappeared was that Amagi girl?"

"Seems like it. But she's just a high schooler, you know. Could be that she decided to run away from home…"

… Gotta ask. "Hey, uncle, please don't tell me those officers aren't investigating the murders? Two woman are murdered and it's no big deal? No cause for alarm?"

He did not appreciate my comment. For good reason, but I have a good reason to be pissed. "I don't see how my job is any of your damn business! Now, you're free to go, but this better not happen again!" He stormed off, leaving us in the hallway.

"Dude, what the hell? I waved a sword in front of a cop, but what you did was the stupidest thing I ever saw today."

"… It's more or less a tie, but I get your point. Those cops acted like they didn't care that Yukiko was missing so I got angry… I'll apologize later."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. That repression thing isn't working very well, is it?" Yosuke joked.

"Guess not." I need to work on it.

We headed for the exit then we came face to face with a familiar face. Well I did. "Whoa. Pardon me." He said when he almost bumped into me. Hanged man...

I can see what arcana people belong to pretty easy now.

"Huh? Aren't you the kid staying at Dojima-san's place?" I guess he recognized me too.

"Yeah, that's me. I'm Yu Narukami. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Tohru Adachi. I'm Dojima-san's partner."

"Uh, can we ask you something?" Yosuke interjected. "It's about Yukiko-san… I mean, Yukiko Amagi of the Amagi Inn…"

Adachi hesitated. "Huh? Oh, umm… Am I allowed to say? Well if you're friends with Ms. Amagi… Keep this between us, okay? We got a call from Ms. Amagi's parents yesterday evening saying they couldn't find her anywhere. Since it was the weekend, the workers at the inn were extremely busy and no one saw Ms. Amagi around that time. Oh, but that doesn't necessarily mean this is a case just yet!"

"See, this is what I don't get. Two woman die, one going missing the next day, then a third goes missing and no one bats an eye."

"Don't miss understand. We're definitely investigating this. This case is leaving all of us on edge so we can't ignore when someone goes missing. By the way, did she say anything to you guys about maybe going through some hard times?"

I looked at Yosuke. He shrugged. "Uh… Hard times?"

"Well, that announcer, Ms. Yamano, was staying at the Amagi Inn before the first murder. Seems Ms. Yamano had some harsh words for the manager about the staff's attitude towards guests. The stress of it all caused the manager to collapse."

I saw where this was going. "You can't be serious."

"Well, with Ms. Amagi being the manager's daughter… She must've felt pretty strongly about the incident, y'know. There's been theories floating around what she's laying low for some reason or another…" Adachi's eyes went wide. "… Crap, I think I've went too far. You didn't hear that, okay?"

Uncle's voice echoed down the hall way. "Adachi, what the hell are you chatting with civvies for!? And where's my coffee!?"

"S-Sorry! I got it right here!" Adachi shouted back. "Forgot I said anything! Please!"

"So the police _are_ looking for Yukiko, but because they think she's the killer." I told Yosuke as we continued to leave she police station. "Great. When we rescue her, she going to be interrogated."

"There you are!" Chie was standing next to the welcome desk as we approached. I tapped Yosuke on the shoulder and shook my head, signaling that to keep the news about Yukiko being a suspect a secret. He got the message.

Last thing we need is to have Chie worry about something else.

"Sheesh, what're you guys doing!? I've been looking everywhere!"

"Well clearly you weren't looking for a guy waving swords around in the middle of the crowded food court!" Yosuke glared at me. I let out a sigh. "… or not for the guy who mouthed off to a cop." There, ya happy you big idiot? "So I take it Yosuke explained everything to you?"

"Yeah. So why the hell are you guys here?"

"Swords. Food court. Cops. Were you not listening? Oh that reminds me, they confiscated your weapons, so you need something else, dude."

Chie's ears perked up. "Weapons? I know just the place. C'mon, follow me!"

I looked at Yosuke and shrugged.

…

* * *

"Wh-What kinda shop is this…?" The moment we stepped into the dank interior of the building. Weapons and armor of various sizes lined the shelves.

This was the one building I saw when I first got here. It looks even more badass inside than it looked outside!

"A metalworks… I guess? They sell all sorts of metal crap… like katanas and stuff."

"Chie-chan, this stuff isn't called crap. This is what art looks like! You should respect it." I said with a smile, as I indicated the proprietor with the wicked looking scar spanning across his face.

You should never piss off this guy. Ever.

"Well, doesn't that seem weird to you!?" Dammit Yosuke, I said respectful! "Why would you know a place like this anyway…? Oh, I get it… You watch one too many Kung-Fu movies, and…"

"It's not that at all!" She stomped her foot. "I overheard some guys in our class talk about it. They said this place sells weapons and armor. Here." She looked at a nearby suit of chainmail. "This one looks good… But it might be too heavy for me…"

Yosuke's eyebrows raised. For her? What does she mean for-vocalize you dummy. "What do you mean, for you?"

"I'm going too." She stated, matter-of-factly, like it was no big deal.

"WHAT?" Yosuke disagreed with that attitude. "It's too dangerous! You don't know how it is in there. I know how you feel, but-"

"You don't! You don't know shit about how I feel. Yukiko might die from this, for crying out loud! I'm going, and that's that!"

I looked at Yosuke. He had nothing. I didn't either. Dammit, I lost an argument about putting someone in danger? I sighed. "… Fine. But you'll stay behind us. You stay out of the fighting. If you get attacked, you try to defend yourself in till me or Yosuke can get to you."

"Psh, I'll be fine! My reflexes are second to none!"

"And without a Persona, it means next to nothing. So I'll say it again. Stay. Behind. Us."

"Alright… I get it." She rolled her eyes. She doesn't get it at all.

… Why is the shopkeeper smiling at me?

"Just make sure you have something to defend yourself with." Yosuke suggested.

"Okay… Um…" Chie began to look around the store.

Yosuke stepped closer to me so we could talk more privately. "This could be bad."

"I know. But nothing we say would change her mind anyways. If she does what we said, she should be fine."

"You got it, partner." He nodded. "But what should we get? I've never trained with certain weapons before."

"Me neither. I usually just used my fists to solve my problems. Anyways… we should just stick what we've used to. I'll probably just buy a katana for myself. I won't be needing any armor with my Persona's skills. How about you?"

He looked around the shop for a second before his eyes landed on a pair of nata on the counter-top. "These for sale?"

"4000 for the both of 'em" The shop owner replied.

"Okay. That, a katana and two suits of chain mail armor, then."

"Two?" Chie asked.

"You and Yosuke. How much?"

"14800 yen. You know what? Make it an even 14000." There's that smile again.

… I'm on his good side. Don't question it.

"Thanks… We appreciate it." I said as I paid for the stuff.

"So how're we getting into Junes with all this stuff? We'll kinda stick out."

I thought about Yosuke's question for around one second. "Just wear it underneath your uniforms." I Could see Chie blushing a little. I couldn't help the grin spread across my face. "What's wrong?" I asked her.

"N-None of your business!" She snapped at me. Why do people keep on telling me that today?

"Hey kid." The shop owner called me back as we were about to leave.

"You guys go on ahead. I'll catch up." I told the others before returning to the counter.

"I got a policy that if customers bring me certain raw materials, I'll make somethin' special for 'em. Now I don't know what you're into, but if you get me something I haven't seen before, I'll be able to craft amazin' things for ya."

"Anything specific?"

He showed me a grin. "You'll know it when you see it."

"… I'll keep it in mind."

"See ya later kid. Tell Igor I said hi."

Uhh, What? "O-Okay… See ya…" I backed out of the store, not leaving my eyes off of the metalworks owner.

Stuff he hasn't seen before? I'm gonna leave the comment about Igor alone for the moment. I sent Yosuke an email to tell him it'd take another hour. I was just about to walk down the street when- a glowy blue door appeared out of nowhere.

I wonder if I have the means to open this door?

The key Igor gave me last night started to glow in my pocket. Is the universe screwing with me right now?

" _So it finally begins. Now, if you'll give me a moment of your time…"_

"You really didn't need to invade my head. I wasn't going to ignore this glowing blue door."

I stepped closer to the door and touched it. My hand gripped the handle and I pulled it open. Yay for more portals. Just what I needed.

I stepped through.

…

* * *

"We have been expecting you. The catastrophe that is headed your way… It has already taken human lives in its approach towards you." Igor. The Velvet Room. Not surprised that the blue door opened with a blue key that opens to a blue room.

… Screw this. My patience for all this cryptic bullshit has run dry.

"Yes, it has. And if you people been more straightforward with me, I could have saved one of them. But you choose to talk in riddles and innuendos. You said that you would assist me, but why couldn't you do it two days ago? Why was it necessary for two deaths to happen?"

Igor's familiar grin vanished about halfway through my ranting. "We are incapable of revealing your power in till it fully awakens. Did you not notice we visited you the night of your awakening? Do not shift blame onto us for something that is not within our- or even your- control. That is the basis of our contract, is it not?"

… Dammit. I did it again. "I'm sorry for my outburst. I've been doing that a lot today."

"Indeed. But if you still have some concerns for the suffering of others, you have nothing to fear. You already have the power to fight against it. It seems that the time for you to use your Persona has come."

Marmalade spoke up, still continuing to glare at me thanks to my outburst. "Your Persona ability is that of the wild card. If you strengthen your bonds properly, their power will help you overcome any ordeal. Our role is to facilitate that."

"My contribution…" Igor continued. "Is to give birth to new Personas. By mixing together multiple Persona cards, I can transmute them into a new form. This, in other words, is the fusion of Personas. You have the power to hold multiple Personas and use them accordingly. When you defeat an enemy, the seeds of possibility you attain will appear before you as cards. At times, they may be hard to grasp, but you must master your fear and reach out to them. When you obtain new cards, please do not hesitate to bring them here. If you have been developing your Social Links, then your Persona will gain even more power. They will be your chief sources of strength… you would do well to take this to heart."

"So Personas I get by fighting Shadows will be weaker than the ones I fuse here?" I guessed.

"Correct." Igor nodded to Marmalade.

Marmalade held up a large book with strange lettering and patterns on it. "The tome you see in my hand is the Persona Compendium. Registering the Personas you hold will allow you to recall them at any time, for a fee of course. Please see me when you wish to use it."

"So there's a limit on how many Persona I can hold at a time? There'll be no point in a compendium otherwise."

"For you, yes. Please do not hesitate to call on me when you wish to use the compendium."

What does she mean by 'for you'? Are there other wild card users?

"Oh, and one more thing…" Marmalade continued. "I would like to introduce a new resident of the Velvet Room, who will be helping you on your journey."

I turned around as I heard the door open. A girl walked in and sat down to the left of Igor.

"…"

… I know this girl…

"The hell is Hot Topic doing here?"

"Hot Topic?" The girl in the blue hat asks, sounding genuinely confused.

Does she think that wearing a hat makes her a different person? "You dress like someone who visits Hot Topic daily!"

She… looks even more confused. "I don't get it."

I hold her gaze for a second, trying to figure her out before giving up and looking at Igor instead. "Why is she here?"

"If I may." Marmalade interjects. "This is Marie. She is a resident like myself and master. I can understand how she can be brusque at times but please be patient with her. Her soul is still very young and-"

"Shut up!" The now named Marie, (Who I'm still going to call Hot Topic) interrupts. "Don't tell him any more about me than you need to."

Marmalade's response to this was just to hold her hands up in a surrendering gesture before folding them on her lap. "Marie will be dealing with "Skill Cards." Using these cards will allow you to provide your Personas with new powers. Also, I am sure she will help you form a bond between yourself and the "outside world." Marie will contact you at a later date."

… So she's going to be a Social Link? She's going to be a pain in the ass to handle. She's the… Aeon Arcana… was that an actually Arcana?

Igor let out a chuckle "When we meet again, you will come here of your own will. I look forward to it. Until then… farewell."

"See you." And the room faded as I stepped back outside. Okay, now to get some supplies.

…

* * *

Thirty minutes later and 5000 yen, I had a satchel with some medicine, just in case. When I caught up with the others in the food court, I quickly joined them. I saw Yosuke fiddling with someone behind his back but I chose to ignore it.

Youske looked up and peered at the satchel confusingly. "What's that for?"

"The metalworks guy said he'd pay me to get him some weird materials. That world should have some weird things inside it."

"You're thinking of money right now?" Chie complained.

"I just spent 20000 yen today. You can complain when it's your money."

"Dude, we really stick out… It doesn't help when we're in our school uniforms on a Sunday." Yosuke whined.

"So? I look badass in this. And anyways, I still don't understand what Chie's wearing is considered an uniform."

"It's just a jacket underneath my regular uni- CAN WE JUST GET BACK ON TRACK, PLEASE!"

"I'm just messing with you Chie-chan." I replied back, patting her on the head.

Chie blushed then gave me a look like she wanted to kill me.

"Anyways, the sale should end soon, so that'll get rid of the people wondering around here." Yosuke explained. "Let's get going."

As soon as the crowds started to thin out, we headed straight to the electronics department and went through the TV we'd been using.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"Whoa, it really is that bear from last time."

We found Teddie holding his head and swaying back and forth in a corner of the entrance platform.

"What're you doing?" Yosuke asked him.

"Can't you tell? I'm thinking about stuff. I've been deli-bear-ating over it for a long time now." Must not kill Teddie. Only one who can help… "Hey, that wasn't a bad joke. Heehee!" MUST NOT KILL TEDDIE.

Yosuke groaned from the bad puns. "So… did you figure anything out? He, it's probably useless to think about it too much. I've seen the inside of your head, and it's empty."

Teddie waddled over to Yosuke and stomped. "How rude! But… you're right. I try and try but nothing comes out of my head."

"Will you guys shut up!?" I agree with you, Chie. "Now's not the time for stupid jokes! Listen… Someone came here yesterday, right?"

"Wow! There's a girl with a better nose than me!? what's your name, Miss?" Teddie's got a crush.

"M-Miss? Uh… I'm Chie. But never mind that! Tell me more about that 'someone'!"

"I think it happened a little after I talked with sensei. After that, it felt like someone was here."

"Is it Yukiko-san!?" Yosuke pressed, forgetting that Teddie can't tell who each person is.

"I don't know. I haven't looked…" He turned to face the direction of the presence. "The presence is over that way. That's probably where they are."

"Over there, huh? Let's go!" Chie didn't waste anytime being sensible. She ran as soon as she knew where she was going.

I sighed. "I can't say that I'm surprised."

"Why the hell aren't you a little concerned!?" Yosuke exclaimed.

"They're ignore her."

"Huh?"

"Remember the last time. The Shadows only attack people who have a Persona. Because we're a threat to them. They totally went passed you and went straight for me."

"So you're saying that she should be safe? That the Shadows won't attack her" Yosuke reasoned, looking a bit more relaxed.

"The small ones? Yes. Now the real problem is her Shadow. I have a suspicion that it won't manifest right away. Ms. Yamano and Saki's didn't in till the fog lifted."

"But mine did! Why won't hers be like mine!?"

"Why did you deny your Shadow?"

"Huh?... Well… Because I was ashamed of it. I didn't want to admit it was a part of me."

"They want you to feel ashamed about it, so she'll deny it just like you did. And if other people are there to witness it…"

"It's way worse…" Yosuke finished.

"Anyways, we should catch up to her. She should be safe in theory, but we should be there.. She's our responsibility."

Yosuke nodded and we ran forward, with Teddie trying to keep up with us. As we got closer, I could start to see a giant castle looming ahead of us.

…


	10. UPDATE

**IMPORTANT UPDATE/ANNOUNCEMENT.**

 **So, if you're wondering why I haven't updated for around a week, I have a reason.**

 **First, I want to go back and revamp the other chapters, making them flow better? Or just change them a little.**

 **Second, Some of the dialogue I borrowed from an another P4 Fanfiction, so I want to change it so it's way more my own.**

 **Third, I've been planning a P5 Fanfiction as well, and I've been playing P5 non stop for a few days. (I know someone who got a review copy) So I will probably start writing a P5 FF soon as well.**

 **Don't worry though. I won't be abandoning this story. Because this story will kind of affect my P5 FF so it's kinda important.**

 **Anyways, yeah, that's why I haven't been updating. Look forward to the P5 FF though, it's going to be awesome, I promise you that..**


End file.
